Campbell Medical Students Offer Free Prenatal Classes After Harnett County Hospital Stops Deliveries

Two second-year students at Campbell University's Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine launched free prenatal classes in Harnett County. The move came after Betsy Johnson Hospital shuttered its labor and delivery services back in October 2023. Michaela Brown and Jessica King snagged the NC Albert Schweitzer Fellowship to build this program alongside the Harnett County Health Department.

The hospital closure stripped families of local delivery services. Expectant mothers now make trips to Fayetteville, Wake County, or Durham when it's time to give birth.

"We decided that it would be a good idea to form some kind of project that would assess the needs of the low-income population and the pregnant population here in Harnett County," King said, per Campbell University.

The classes work to boost awareness about prenatal care. They push women to get help sooner during pregnancy. Lots of patients skip the health department's prenatal services even though they're available.

"Our goal is to bring in more patients to the prenatal clinic, to help patients get earlier care," King said. "Because there's not a labor and delivery unit here, a lot of patients aren't coming to get care early on, in their first trimester."

Brown and King became the first CUSOM recipients of the Schweitzer Fellowship. The program picks graduate health students from major North Carolina universities to tackle health disparities. Dr. Brianne Holmes created the AERIMUS program at the medical school, which helped the pair build their project.

The project will gather both qualitative and quantitative data. It'll track who uses the health department clinic and what happens to them. About 15 OB/GYN doctors and physicians at the health department will pitch in to collect and review information.