Martin County Healthy Start’s Bridge Walk for Babies Set for July 12
Stuart, FL - The inaugural Bridge Walk for Babies on July 12 will give the community an opportunity to take powerful steps toward strengthening maternity care in Martin County.
“We’re excited to bring together mothers, babies, and those who love them for this event,” said Samantha Suffich, CEO of Martin County Healthy Start Coalition. “Our Healthy Start Coalition created the walk to honor existing families and to call attention to our efforts to establish a maternity center for future families.”
Suffich detailed the journey that the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition has traveled since the nearest labor and delivery hospital unit closed this spring. “Every day we work with pregnant women who are concerned about where they are going to deliver their babies,” Suffich said. “The plan for the Treasure Coast Maternity Center grew out of a crucial need for a community-based birthing center in Martin County.”
The Martin County Healthy Start Coalition recently launched another innovative effort, its MOM Mobile, to provide expectant women with quality care and support. The MOM Mobile is a 38-foot van equipped like a prenatal care office, with an exam table, lab facilities, radiology equipment, and an educational area. Midwives staff the van as it makes its rounds to locations in Martin County: East Stuart, Golden Gate, Hobe Sound and Indiantown. In addition to prenatal care, expectant women have an opportunity to meet doulas who can help them through their pregnancy and birth. The staff is bilingual and representative of the clients served.
“Our community has taken responsibility for the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies for decades,” Suffich said. “We’re honored to continue the work of ensuring that every baby is born healthy, every mother is supported, and every father is involved.”
The Bridge Walk for Babies will begin at Jock Leighton Park on Mapp Road in Palm City at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 12. The entry fee is $10 for adults, with children welcome at no cost.
Registration is available through https://runsignup.com/Race/FL/PalmCity/BridgeWalkForBabies.
The walk is part of a broader plan to gain community awareness and financial support for a new maternity center. “We welcome walkers, babies in strollers, and everyone in the community who cares about strong, healthy births to join us,” Suffich said.
More information about the Treasure Coast Maternity Center and the other Martin County Healthy Start Coalition services, including the MOM Mobile, a prenatal mobile medical unit, is on the Healthy Start website, www.mchealthystart.org.
About Martin County Healthy Start Coalition
Martin County Healthy Start is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that every baby is born healthy. It provides educational and health services to pregnant women, new mothers and their families at no cost, particularly expectant mothers who are at risk for late or no prenatal care.
Part of a statewide coalition, Healthy Start connects pregnant women and young mothers with essential services including prenatal care, home visitations by a nurse or social worker, breastfeeding support, parenting education, car seat and sleeping safety, a free diaper pantry, and access to other community partner agencies through the Betty Moore Prenatal Outreach Center. The David Cardno Fatherhood Initiative, also part of the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition, helps fathers to become more involved in parenting and offers legal assistance to fathers who are separated from their children.
The programs of Martin County Healthy Start Coalition are voluntary and available to all Florida residents at no cost.
For more information about Martin County Healthy Start Coalition and its ongoing programs, visit www.mchealthystart.org, call 772-463-2888 or follow the organization on Facebook.