Taylor Winterhalder is pregnant with twin boys. It's her first pregnancy.
She has a lot of questions.
What can I eat? What kind of medicines can I take? What's normal and what's not?
Thankfully, Julie Styles has the answers.
Styles is a nurse who specializes in women's health and works at the Hillcrest Pregnancy Center at Pine Street and Lewis Avenue.
The center and one like it in east Tulsa recently opened as an effort to improve prenatal care in underserved areas of Tulsa.
Each center has six exam rooms and can see up to 20 patients a day. Staff at both centers speak Spanish and the east center has a pediatrician available for follow-up visits after the birth.
The centers also offer free pregnancy testing.
There is a general need for adequate prenatal care in Tulsa. Without it, preterm delivery and other complications can be particularly dangerous, Styles said.
Typically, the pregnancy center can care for a woman up to about 34 weeks into the pregnancy before making the transition to a Hillcrest physician. Because she is having twins, Winterhalder has already begun seeing the physician at 23 weeks.
She continues to feel comfortable talking to Styles whenever she has a concern.
"I still call her about everything," Winterhalder said.
She called her when she had nausea and pain to see if her symptoms were normal. She visited for lab tests and unofficial ultrasounds to see the babies.
"I think I would be completely lost if I didn't have somebody to guide me through every step of the way," she said.
Winterhalder likes the personal touch she gets at the pregnancy center. She never had to wait long to be seen and she was never rushed, she said.
Styles said it's important to have plenty of opportunities to talk to the expectant mothers about what they are going through and what's in their future.
That's why it's key not to cycle through patients too quickly, she said.
"It's nice to have that time to educate," Styles said.
Personalizing care helps the mothers to feel calm and secure, whatever their concerns, she said.
"Everybody has different needs," Styles said. "Everybody has different questions."
Shannon Muchmore 918-581-8378
shannon.muchmore@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Serving more moms
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