20 years ago, when Taneka delivered her second daughter at Community of Hope, she had no idea that her medical team would still be caring for her family 20 years later. Community of Hope and our comprehensive healthcare approach now provide care for her whole family, including an 8-month-old baby. She leans daily on learnings from her doctor to manage chronic disease and be empowered to live a healthier life.
Taneka found our birthing center when she was pregnant because she was looking for something “different.” She chose a birth center labor due to the midwife-led care, which felt more personalized and less rushed than most medical settings. “When I had my daughter, I had complications,” Taneka recalls. During labor Taneka’s baby girl was in the posterior brow presentation – her mother’s stomach instead of her back. “They were about to send me to the hospital because she was stuck under my bone, but a midwife came in and explained how I could move a certain way and reposition myself to move my bone so the baby could come out. That was a really bad situation, but we got her out and she was fine,” says Taneka.
Taneka felt cared for as the Community of Hope team used an integrative approach that considered many facets of health including primary medical care, emotional wellness, support system, nutrition, and much more.
“This place is really a godsend,” says Taneka.
This experience left Taneka feeling supported and an active participant in her health journey. She continued her care—and the care of her children—with Community of Hope.
Today, Taneka is in a new phase of her health journey as she learns to manage hypertension. Three years ago, Taneka’s hypertension reached its peak. Her blood pressure was so high that she could not have much-needed surgery for fear she would not wake up from it. That is when she started seeing Community of Hope’s Curt Eckstrom. With a whole-body care approach, Curt found the right mix of medications along with dietary guidance to eat less red meat and more fish and salads, to help Taneka live a healthier life. Now she feels in control of her health and able to enjoy moments with her family without the added stress of hypertension that runs through her family.
For Taneka and her family, improved health means dedicated midwives who guided her through three pregnancies and births. It means a partnership with her healthcare provider, who listens to her concerns and finds personalized solutions to control her hereditary high blood pressure and improve her heart health. It also means, her whole family, including her grandchildren, gets to work with a team that cares and is invested in creating healthy futures.
This trust and care are the first steps towards addressing inequities like the high rate of hypertension and the difficult odds for Black moms and babies.
“I really think they are there for their community,” says Taneka. “I want to thank all of them from the front desk staff to the nurses, Curt [Eckstrom], and Ebony [Marcelle]. The work you do keeps me and my family together.”
We’re so grateful to be a part of Taneka’s health story. By building trusting relationships with our patients and providing quality healthcare, our patients like Taneka improve their health.
