BILLINGS, Mont. -- Nearly fifty nurses from Montana and Wyoming are gathering at Billings Clinic Monday and Tuesday for an intensive training course. The two-day program is designed to prepare nurses specializing in obstetrics.
The educational opportunity is funded by a $10 million grant Governor Steve Bullock announced last November. The grant launched a program called Montana Obstetric and Maternal Support or "MOMS' for short. The goal of the program is to expand maternal support services in rural Montana. Rebecca Cypher, President of the Association of Women's Health Obstetrics and Neonatal Nurses leads the course and says it's critical for nurses to stay up to date on the latest technology and procedures.
"We talk about some of the medical problems that women can have when they're pregnant or even obstetric complications," she says, "The content also goes into how we manage labor patients as well as what we do for them for the postpartum time frame, when they go home, and a little bit about the newborn themselves in terms of just newborn assessment, recessitation, and some of the common abnormalities that we may see in terms of our neonates."
After nurses go through the training, they take an inpatient obstetrics exam. Those who pass will be able to take are of pregnant and postpartum women and their babies.
