New OB service available in county
When Russellville Hospital made the decision to cut their obstetrics department in 2011 for financial reasons, many expectant women in the area were left wondering where they would receive proper prenatal care in the vital months leading up to the birth of their child.
Enter Valley Prenatal Care – Franklin County’s own prenatal care unit for uninsured expectant mothers that opened in Russellville on Dec. 16.
The facility is under the direction of Helen Keller Hospital with Melanie Malone serving as the nurse practitioner, Angelique Madden providing ultrasounds and 4D ultrasounds and Nancy Ambrosio serving as the office manager.
Julia Boughner, director of community relations for Helen Keller Hospital, said making sure Franklin County had adequate access to prenatal care was something they wanted to be a part of.
“We knew this population would be underserved when Russellville decided to close their OB department,” Boughner said. “For some families, it would be a hardship to drive 20 miles over to the Shoals area to receive this important care during their pregnancy so we wanted to find a way to make it easier for the residents here.”
Malone, who is also the nurse practitioner at Dr. Santiago’s office in Russellville, said she was more than willing to be part of the facility because she knew what a tremendous need there would be for such services once there were no more OB services in Russellville.
“I immediately wanted to get on board with the project when I found out Keller was interested in opening a prenatal unit here,” Malone said. “Keller saw this as an opportunity to help our community and provide a much-needed service for people who can’t get over to the Shoals area frequently for these services.”
Malone collaborates with Dr. Stutts, Dr. Gapultos, Dr. Keith and Dr. Aldridge, all of whom are OBGYNs affiliated with Helen Keller Hospital.
“We can take care of many things in our facility such as check-ups, lab work, ultrasounds and administering prenatal vitamins,” Malone said. “We take care of the prenatal care up until the last trimester when they will follow up with one of those four doctors and use them for delivery.”
Malone said if Helen Keller Hospital hadn’t stepped in to make this prenatal unit possible, she felt certain there would be many uninsured expectant mothers who would just forgo prenatal care altogether – something Malone said could be detrimental because of all the benefits prenatal care provides.
“With prenatal care, a lot of it is education,” Malone said. “You learn how to take care of yourself and your baby, which is vital information to make sure both the mother and child have a safe and healthy pregnancy.
“Proper prenatal care can also help detect and prevent certain things like hypertension, diabetes and early births that all have the potential to be serious conditions if not handled properly, so as you can see, prenatal care is something that is vital and should not be neglected.”
Valley Prenatal Care is located in the medical office complex on Gandy Street behind Kentucky Fried Chicken in Russellville in Dr. Yordy’s office. They are currently open from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Fridays only.
To contact Valley Prenatal Care, call 256-443-3500.
