The medical community in the Quinte area is working to address what it sees as a shortage of primary health care for babies.
At the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health meeting Wednesday, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Piotr Oglaza outlined the health unit’s role in this.
Oglaza told the board a number of families with newborn babies don’t have access to primary care and the health unit is looking at how it can help.
Oglaza says, “We do currently provide services to the community at what we call the baby feeding drop-in. So that’s the service where we offer breast feeding support to new moms or parents and this is something that’s particularly important for our region.”
He told Quinte News, “We know there’s a substantial benefit to breast feeding on a variety of levels and we know that new moms in our community or anywhere need support in that critical period when the breast feeding is initiated. So that’s the purpose of those baby feeding drop-ins and the breastfeeding consultation.”
He says the entire community has “stepped up to fill the need.”
Dr. Oglaza explained, “When we look at the need for that first well baby check, well baby assessment that has to happen a week from its discharge, it has a lot of components of what we already are doing in terms of the health teaching, breast feeding support, all that education …but we don’t have capacity right now to do the physical exam….We have a number of people, a population, who are not currently linked to family care. The only options for them are either to go to a walk-in clinic or go to emergency if they have concerns. We might be able to work with our partners and try to fill that gap.”
He added, “If the outcome of this involves us investing funding, that would be something we would make a business case and present to whoever would be the appropriate body to cover that cost”
