Angela Kersh, RN
Prenatal education coordinator with Women’s Health Center at INTEGRIS Health Edmond Hospital.
By James Coburn, staff writer
Angela Kersh, RN, loves the continuity of care she provides as the prenatal education coordinator for the Women’s Health Center at INTEGRIS Health Edmond Hospital.
She assists mothers before and after giving birth at the hospital. She also leads the bereavement team and educates mothers about lactation.
“As the prenatal education coordinator, I feel like I’m our liaison from the clinic. The patients get to know their doctor, but I’m the first person that they meet on the hospital side,” Kersh said. “So, when they come to prenatal education classes, I give them the first glimpse of what they’re going to experience when they come here as a patient. So, I take that job very seriously.”
The Women’s Health Center offers a variety of classes. Women may tour the facility to become comfortable in the friendly home-like ambiance. Kersh will have multiple interactions with patients before they have their babies. After they deliver, she will educate mothers about the benefits of lactation.
“When they go home, I help run Milk Bar, which is our outpatient community lactation support program,” she continued.
Moms come with their babies to Milk Bar, a free service on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Babies are weighed before and after their feedings to monitor how they’re doing with their weight gain.
“They come as frequently as they want to. And we have one on Sunday once a month that we do that, too,” Kersh continues. “So, I like the continuity of care, that I get to meet them before we get to see them in the hospital.”
She said about 10 babies are born deceased each year at the hospital. A team provides a bereavement card, food, snacks, and mementoes for parents following the birth.
“We have weighted teddy bears that match the baby’s weight, so the mom gets to go home with something in her arms,” Kersh said. “We have different books about bereavement and loss.”
A church provides some of the items, and volunteers make crocheted caps for the babies, blankets, and quilts. Footprints, Christmas ornaments, bracelets, keychains, are among the items parents can bring home. Kersh said these are things parents won’t necessarily want at that moment. After all, they had thoughts and dreams about their baby that came to a halting stop.
“Our main goal is we want them to know that we recognize the loss and that their experience is real, no matter how old that baby was, or how small, or how big,” she said. “But it’s a real loss and we acknowledge that to the best of our abilities to make it an experience that acknowledges that baby they lost. We offer a little bit of sibling support as well.”
Kersh has always been involved in her field of nursing since 1996, when she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Oklahoma Baptist University, located in Shawnee. As a student, she loved all the areas of nursing she was introduced to. One of those rotations was at the-Oklahoma Memorial Hospital, (OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center). Helping a mother at the bedside was meaningful for her. Education became her forte.
“I tell my clients I get paid to talk, which is a fabulous job to have,” Kersh said.
In 1996, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center became her home as a nurse, being her first job in the field she loves.
“They trained me and made me the nurse that I am,” Kersh said.
Being a nurse allowed her to focus on her family and balance it well. She was able to educate her children at home and do patient education in a prenatal education department throughout her career.
“I did that at Baptist and Saint Francis in Tulsa, as well as here at INTEGRIS in Edmond,” she said. “The jewel of nursing is you can find your niche no matter what it is. It can be so diverse and so varied.”
She has discovered through nursing that she can help bring positive outcomes for mothers in labor, and when needed, provide comfort for parents with a broken heart.
Her advocacy has a broad range. She has met with state legislatures at the state Capitol and written them letters advocating for healthcare.
“I like policies and procedures. They keep us safe,” she said. “I’ve learned that about myself.”
Kersh will also advocate for her patients’ best interests whenever she identifies a policy that doesn’t fit a patient’s needs.
Some people may be surprised when learning Kersh has never worked full time in her career. This allows her to give 110 percent when she is on campus, Kersh said.
“One thing I’m really proud of is we were the first (hospital in the state) to restart all of our prenatal classes after COVID,” she said.
For more information about INTEGRIS Health Edmond visit https://integrishealth.org/locations/hospital/edmond-hospital
