Memorial introduces new prenatal service

Comprehensive program promotes healthy babies

A new service that makes quality prenatal care more accessible and helps ensure area women deliver healthy babies has opened at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.

The weekly obstetrics service operates Wednesday afternoons from 1 to 5 p.m. on the third floor of the hospital’s Mary C. Dyster Women’s Pavilion, 621 10th St., and provides healthcare and related support services.

Obstetrics and prenatal care for the new service are being provided by Daniel J. Burns, M.D., Memorial’s chief of obstetrics and gynecology, and Laurie Kilbury-Taylor, D.O., the director of the hospital's osteopathic family medicine residency program along with resident physicians. High-risk prenatal care is provided by maternal fetal medicine specialist Jack Lawler, M.D.

Counseling and care for pregnant women with conditions such as diabetes and hypertension also are available.

“We are seeing far too many pregnant women for the first time late in their pregnancies,” Dr. Burns said. “Early prenatal care is a significant factor in delivering healthy, full-term babies.”

The new offering addresses a critical community need, said Memorial President & CEO Joseph A. Ruffolo.

“Recent data from the New York State Department of Health and the University at Buffalo show that many pregnant women in Niagara County, especially those in their teen years, do not receive early pre-natal care. In fact, almost 25 percent of all pregnant women who reside in the county receive no prenatal care during the first trimester of their pregnancy,” Ruffolo said. “As a result, our community is confronting significantly higher rates of premature births, low birth weights and infant mortality.”

The program accepts all insurances and offers payment arrangements and expedited insurance enrollment to patients who would benefit from those services.

“We know that the key to delivering healthy babies is healthy mothers,” Ruffolo said. “This new service is designed to provide the healthcare and support services pregnant women need in a way that is caring, convenient and accessible.”

To schedule an appointment, call 278-4444.