For the first time in Israel: Initial Well-Baby Clinic in the hospital

Ravit, Hila, Sharon and Asama - all gave birth at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center and all are very happy with the new and unique arrangement in the Maternity Department - a well-baby nurse who conducts the first meeting with them while they are hospitalized in the department. Hillel Yaffe Medical Center is currently the only hospital in Israel with this type of arrangement, which is free of charge and is another service in the extensive array the Maternity Division offers its patients.

The initial Well-Baby Clinic is the result of cooperation between the Maternity Division at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center and the Hadera Health Office, which is responsible for the Well-Baby Clinics in the region. Women who have already had babies know that it is not simple to schedule an appointment at the Well-Baby Clinic and that there are long waits. That is why the initial visit in the Maternity Department is a welcome and necessary development.

At a festive ceremony held last week to mark the launch of the service, MK Rabbi Yakov Litzman was also on hand. He said that it was important to him to be at the ceremony, because cooperation in healthcare for the benefit of the community is significant added value, and well-baby service is essential. He further stated that he hopes that other hospitals will follow suit.

Ceremony launching the Well-Baby Clinic From right to left: MK Rabbi Yakov Litzman,
Prof. Moti Halak - Director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department,
Ms. Dina Fainblat - Director of Nursing, Edna Rosenfeld - Supervising Nurse from the
Hadera Health Office, Dr. Mickey Dudkiewicz, Director General of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, Dr. Amnon Ben Moshe, Administrative Director

Well-Baby Clinics and their importance to new mothers

Well-Baby Clinics are stations that provide healthcare and medical services to women both before and after childbirth, to babies and children up to the age of six along with their families. For new mothers, it is a crossroads that is virtually a necessity, and the recommendation is that the first visit to a Well-Baby Clinic be made when the baby is four days old.

“At the initial well-baby appointment in the department, we provide the new mother with tools for the first days after childbirth and basic information on subjects such as immunizations, developmental exams, breastfeeding and more,” said Edna Rosenfeld, the supervising nurse from the Hadera Health Office and one of the key forces behind this unique service. “At the initial well-baby meeting, the nurse provides the women with general explanations and schedules an appointment for them at the Well-Baby Clinic near their home. She provides them with all of the required initial information.”

“In the surveys we conducted to see whether a Well-Baby Clinic was something new mothers would want to see in the department, the responses were very enthusiastic,” said Orna Greenberg, Head Nurse, Hillel Yaffe Maternity Department. “That’s why the opening of the branch is, especially for our patients, a very significant development in terms of service.”

Well-baby nurse Linda Ka'adan and the new mother, Dana Bar

How does it work?

The staff, both in the Maternity Department and in the Nursery and NICU, informs the mothers about the Well-Baby Clinic and contacts the nurse working on behalf of the Health Office on site. “Almost all of the women visit the well-baby nurse's office,” they said happily in the Maternity Department. “And even if they need something else, for example support at home, the social worker in the department contacts the well-baby nurse, who works to establish the right connection for care in the community.”

This unique and very welcome initiative, which is new, has quickly become the discussion of the day. The new mothers know to ask for an appointment, and in the Maternity Division, the Well-Baby Clinic has already become a matter of routine. A routine that everyone knows and implements, in the best way possible, to ensure continuity of the care a new mother receives at the hospital and then in the community. In other words, it’s a routine that everyone benefits from and helps everyone relax.