Marshall Medical Center is uniquely positioned to positively affect health outcomes in El Dorado County. Now, thanks to a new Best Beginnings grant awarded by First 5 El Dorado, Marshall will be receiving increased funding to enhance services to new mothers who give birth at Marshall Hospital in Placerville. The grant provides financial support for Marshall to offer home visits following childbirth, as well as follow up phone calls. The large geographic scope of El Dorado County is just one reason why officials at Marshall believe this new program is especially important.

“Land-wise, we’re a huge county but the population is very spread out,” affirms Deena Purdy, RNC, who is manager of The Birth Place, Marshall’s maternity department. “With that size and dispersed population come some potential problems with transportation, especially in our more outlying areas. We’re excited because we’ll be able to extend our outreach efforts to ensure mothers and their newborns aren’t facing any hurdles with keeping important post-partem check ups and other appointments.”

Another advantage of the Best Beginnings program strongly reflects efforts from other county health and human service programs like ACCEL (Access El Dorado). County-wide, organizations are trying to leverage collective resources and improve the interconnectivity of programs in the county rather than duplicate efforts. “There are a lot of support services available, and often, the people who need them the most simply don’t know about them,” Purdy adds. “Through our visits and phone calls we’ll be able to better educate families about what’s out there.”

The Best Beginnings grant is effective July 1 and is part of First 5 El Dorado’s core initiatives. This initiative is linked to community strengthening groups  inter-organization collaborations to improve health services, particularly for children. The grant will further support a maternity department at Marshall that is already top-notch.

The facts below highlight distinguishing aspects of The Birth Place at Marshall:
- All-RN staff with extensive labor support technique experience.
- 24/7 anesthesia service staffed by certified registered nurse anesthetists who are the experts in medication for labor pain management.
- Maternity RNs receive ongoing education in all areas of labor and delivery, post partem, nursery care and breastfeeding support.
- International Board Certified Lactation Consultants on staff six days a week to provide breastfeeding education and support.