Petaluma Health Center leads effort to link women to services

Sonoma County was one of six sites selected nationally to participate in a CityMatCH practice collaborative to prevent substance exposed pregnancies. In 2012 Rebecca Munger CNM, PHN the Sonoma County Maternal, Child, Adolescent Health Coordinator lead a broad coalition of reproductive health champions who worked across sectors and settings to develop a trio of strategies to reduce substance exposed pregnancies.

The first strategy developed with CDC and WHO technical support was  a bundled screening tool that included substance use, mood disorders and intimate partner violence.  

Today Petaluma Health Center is utilizing this screening tool as part of their efforts to link at-risk pregnant women to treatment and resources. 

Health care providers, like Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program Case Manager Maria Hermosilla at the Petaluma Health Center, use the survey to link patients to relevant services to help them succeed, including mental health care or rehab.

For some women, the survey is the first time they've been presented with questions about their friends and family, and often helps broaden their perspective to spark a desire for a positive change, she said.

Patients are willing to change and get clean, she said. By asking them those questions, they feel like someone cares for them and someone is taking the time to ask them and to see what their needs are and what the problems are.