The leadership of two of the area’s leading hospitals, Riverland Medical Center in Ferriday and Natchez Community Hospital in Natchez, announced recently that they are working together to provide free pregnancy testing for women in the region. The hospitals’ chief executive officers said the service was aimed at encouraging women to take the best possible care of themselves at their unborn children during the early pregnancy stage.

“It is very important for women to take the initiative to get early prenatal care when they become pregnant. There are a number of reasons they should do this, for instance, beginning to take the appropriate dosage of folic acid supplements during early pregnancy can reduce the chances of neural tube defects,” said Tim Trottier, CEO of Natchez Community Hospital.

Trottier said Natchez Community Hospital joined in the partnership so that women in the Ferriday community could get good prenatal care and learn more about the healthcare resources available to them. “Good prenatal care is an important factor in the overall health of the community. There is a direct, positive correlation between those women who have the appropriate prenatal care and successful pregnancies. By offering this service free of charge, we are encouraging women to take the first step to a healthy pregnancy, while we are working to lower the percentage of birth defects and other problems associated with little or no prenatal care,” Trottier said.

“Even though the shortage of qualified nursing personnel in the obstetric specialty has forced the closure of the Labor and Delivery unit at Riverland Medical Center, we know that access to maternity services is an important need of the women in Ferriday and the surrounding communities,” said Vernon Stevens, Administrator of Riverland Medical Center. “Our Board of Directors feels that, by making this free testing available at Riverland Medical Center, we can provide our area residents with an important service that will help them get their pregnancy off to a good start and insure that they are linked to a medical provider in the early stages of pregnancy,”

The testing will be available through the laboratory department at Riverland. Women who would like to take advantage of this free community service should contact the laboratory department at 318-757-6551, ext. 307 to make an appointment for the test.