Warm Springs Community Health introduced folks to the new Maternal Child Health (MCH) Nurse in a recent edition of their monthly podcast series “What the Health.”
Warm Springs Community Health has restarted its maternal child health services with the addition of Sydney Barnes, a full-time maternal child health nurse at the Warm Springs Clinic.
Barnes joined the Community Health team in August after previously working with the Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center on the Umatilla Reservation. She was raised in Bend, earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from OHSU in La Grande and said she had wanted to work for an Oregon tribe. With family in the area, she said returning to Central Oregon and joining the Warm Springs team felt like the right opportunity.
Barnes fills a position that had been vacant for several months. Her full-time schedule allows her to work directly with pregnant women, new mothers and children both at the clinic and through home visits.
One of her responsibilities is helping connect hospital care with services at the Warm Springs Clinic. Barnes typically starts her day at the hospital, checking on tribal members who have recently delivered and communicating with hospital physicians and nurses.
She also helps with newborn metabolic screening, commonly known as the PKU screening. Barnes makes sure the screening cards are available at the Warm Springs Clinic so parents can complete the necessary follow-up when they bring their newborns in for their early checkups.
Home visits are another important part of the position. Barnes is beginning to provide visits to families approximately two to eight weeks after a baby is born. During the visits, she checks the mother’s vital signs and recovery, makes sure the baby is doing well and helps identify resources the family may need.
Barnes works closely with the WIC program and can connect families with other services. The maternal child health team also has access to car seats through assistant Sheryl Lee.
The goal is to provide families with additional support during a period that can be challenging for new parents.
Barnes also participates in prenatal care. She works with physicians during prenatal visits and checks in with pregnant women throughout their pregnancies, whether they are in the early stages or close to delivery.
The maternal child health program is intended to provide an additional layer of support alongside regular medical care. Barnes said families may have questions or needs that are not addressed during routine appointments, including transportation or safety resources, insurance issues or other concerns.
She can also help families who lose their health insurance connect with resources to regain coverage, including OHP. Barnes encouraged people to contact her if they feel there is a gap in their care or if they are unsure where to turn for assistance.
Her role also continues after delivery. At the hospital, Barnes checks on tribal mothers who have recently given birth, asks a few basic questions about how they and their babies are doing and makes sure follow-up appointments are scheduled.
Newborns are generally scheduled for a follow-up visit two to three days after discharge to check their growth and health. Barnes also makes sure mothers receive follow-up care.
By helping families before and after delivery, Barnes serves as a connection between the hospital, the Warm Springs Clinic and other community resources.
Barnes said she sees significant potential for the program and hopes to bring some of the partnerships and approaches she experienced while working with the maternal child health program at Yellowhawk.
She also emphasized that tribal members do not have to live in Warm Springs or receive all of their medical care locally to use the service.
Families living in Bend, Redmond, Madras and other Central Oregon communities can still reach out to Warm Springs Community Health for maternal and child health resources. Barnes can provide support even when a family receives primary or obstetric care outside Warm Springs.
For now, community members can reach Barnes through the Community Health front desk. People can stop by the clinic and ask if Sydney is available or call Community Health at 541-553-2352 and ask to be transferred to her.
The return of the maternal child health nurse position gives Warm Springs families another point of contact for pregnancy, newborn and postpartum support, while helping connect them with the range of health and social services available through the community health system.
“What the Health” is a partnership between Warm Springs Community Health and KWSO.
