More families choose to give birth at the Bronson BirthPlace in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek more than at any other hospital in southwest Michigan. At Bronson, they believe that planning and preparing for the birth of a baby are a special part of life.  Bronson has so much to offer to expectant mothers who select the Bronson BirthPlace for the delivery of their baby. This includes a wide selection of OB providers including doctors and midwives, a new free pregnancy app, and a wide variety of family-centered education programs for all family members.

Carolyn Call, Coordinator of Bronson Family Centered Education, was a guest on the 95.3 WBCK Morning Show with Tim Collins to talk about the advantages that families have when selecting the Bronson BirthPlace for their delivery.

Q: The Covid-19 vaccine is such an important topic in the news and there have been lots of discussions on who should, and who should not get the vaccine. Is it safe for women who are pregnant, those women who would like to get pregnant, and women that are breastfeeding?  

A: So back in December of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists came out with a statement that the COVID 19 vaccine is both safe and recommended for women who are pregnant, those who are wanting to get pregnant, and those women who are breastfeeding.  I, our team here at Bronson and all of our OB providers do fully support that stance.  Patients can find more information about this by clicking here.

Q: The Bronson BirthPlace, with locations here in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, had nearly 4,500 deliveries in 2020. What makes Bronson stand out for expectant families as the best and safest place to deliver their babies?   

A: Well at Bronson, we're always trying to raise the bar and give our patients the best care possible. Right now we're very excited to offer our patients a brand new option for education. This is a free pregnancy app called YoMingo.  This app features evidence-based articles, videos, and other resources about pregnancy babies, and birth, and it even allows families to track details of their pregnancy-- things like kick counts and weights, and later on when the baby comes, things like baby weights and feedings and diapers and such.  And the YoMingo  app is available in multiple languages as well. And we believe this app will help expectant moms and families feel both empowered and reassured, and they can find all the tools that need to learn and prepare for parenthood.  And patients can register for the YoMingo app by clicking here.  

Q: I know Bronson offers a large selection of family-centered education classes for expectant moms, dads, grandparents, and even siblings. With the pandemic, are you still offering these classes? 

A: Yes, we are offering many of our classes. While we can’t currently teach in person, we are still able to deliver excellent information to our patients with our same skilled instructors who are teaching via an online educational platform.  Our most popular class is, “Just the Basics/Prepared Childbirth”, which is all about the labor and delivery experience and the birthing process.

A couple of other popular classes are “Baby Care and Baby Safety”, which cover aspects related to care, soothing, bathing, safe sleep, and things like car seat safety and infant CPR. And we also do encourage grandparents to enroll in these classes under the title of “grandparents-baby care”, and “grandparents-baby safety”, where parents and grandparents can learn together.

“Successful Breastfeeding” is also very popular and helps mothers get the best start with breastfeeding.  “Bootcamp for New Dads” is a specialty class just for dads to help prepare them for their important role.  And we just recently started offering our “Infant Massage Class”, virtually as well, which parents have found helpful to learn to massage their babies in the comfort and safety of home.

We do offer virtual tours of both the Kalamazoo and the Battle Creek birthplaces and those can be found on the Bronson website.    And finally, we do offer a few different free support groups for parents, caregivers, and families.

Q: How does an expectant mom, dad, grandparent, and caregiver sign up for these classes? 

A: People can go to www.bronsonhealth.com/classes  and preview the list of all available classes and support groups offered. Or if parents find it easier to register over the phone, they can certainly call Bronson Health answers at (269) 341-7723 or 800-451-6310.   It is important to note that support groups are free and Medicaid does cover all other classes. And for non-Medicaid patients, there is a nominal fee and if patients have questions, or if they'd like to discuss financial assistance for any of the classes, they can certainly call me Carolyn Call, at (269) 341-7521.

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