07/05/2017
How Your Philanthropy Supports Women & Children’s Services
“At Wentworth-Douglass, we’re not just delivering babies. We’re working hard to make sure every baby's family goes home with practical tools to keep them safer and help them thrive,” says Karen MacDonald, BS, MSN, RNC NEA-BC FACHE, Assistant Vice President of Women and Children’s Services. “So much of our ability to care for the whole family is due to the generosity of Wentworth-Douglass Foundation donors. The Foundation allows us to go well beyond the walls of this hospital – and beyond our immediate medical goal of delivering healthy babies – and into the community in meaningful and vital ways.”
Foundation philanthropy has helped propel several initiatives that have earned high marks from medical professionals and patients alike, including infant CPR, safe sleep, and car seat safety.
For example, CPR Anytime, an easy-to-follow DVD kit complete with an infant mannequin, is sent home with each new family to demonstrate how to deal with choking and other emergencies. New parents can practice on the mannequin while following the video (the research-proven “practice-while-watching” technique), and can refresh their skills as often as needed. They can share the kit and the gift of CPR training’s peace of mind with family, friends, grandparents, neighbors, babysitters and caregivers.
Another initiative is safe sleep. According to MacDonald, SID (Sudden Infant Death) and infant suffocation during sleep is still the leading cause of death the first year of life. Thanks to the Foundation, WDH has taken a leadership role in reducing incidences of SID by providing new parents with tools for safer sleep practices. Through the use of the Patricia C. Adams Endowment Fund for Children’s Care, the Foundation has funded safe sleep wraps for every new family that include a “Back is Best” reminder to put babies to sleep on their backs. This is an important step in becoming a nationally certified Safe Sleep Champion, a long-term goal of Wentworth-Douglass’s Women and Children’s Center. The Foundation has also funded safe sleep training for clinicians that further demonstrates and achieves criteria for Safe Sleep Certification.
This training goes beyond the maternity unit itself. Staff members have participated in specialized instruction using the Safety and Simulation Center at Wentworth- Douglass, which was funded through philanthropy to increase quality care and patient safety. The Simulation Center’s lifelike robots include a pregnant mother, “enabling our maternity team and community first responders to be actively engaged and ‘doing,’ not just observing,” according to Jessica Bacon, MSN, CNM, RNC-OB, C-EFM, Clinical Educator. “It used to take weeks to have the opportunity to observe certain delivery scenarios; now that’s available consistently and constantly – with interactive and immediate hands-on training using a robot that simulates labor, contractions, and fluctuating vital signs – teaching critical thinking and appropriate action.” The Simulation Center’s community outreach efforts include training first responders in emergency maternity situations, and the Dover Fire Department has had 100% participation in this exercise.
The car seat safety program is also funded by the Foundation, providing seed money for nurses to conduct car seat installation checks and more. “No baby leaves this hospital without a car seat,” according to Kelly Clark, Vice President, Wentworth-Douglass Foundation & Community Relations.
While safe sleep techniques, car seats, and CPR training may not be strict medical necessities for a hospital, says MacDonald, “we are so grateful that we can go above and beyond, and provide services that have an ongoing, positive impact on families. The Foundation broadens the scope of what we are able to do – ensuring safety, skill sets and peace of mind.”