{"id":316961,"date":"2025-10-19T21:48:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T21:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/316961\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T21:48:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T21:48:11","slug":"low-cost-maternal-health-services-arrive-in-fort-worth-aboard-a-mobile-clinic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/316961\/","title":{"rendered":"Low-cost maternal health services arrive in Fort Worth aboard a mobile clinic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Expecting parents in Tarrant County can now receive low-cost or free care out of a clinic on wheels in south Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

The Center for Transforming Lives began working with Abide Women\u2019s Health Services in August, providing prenatal and postpartum care to anyone who walks through the doors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Abide provides services, including medical screenings and preventative care, every Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., using both their own mobile clinic and the Center for Transforming Lives\u2019s mobile health rooms.<\/p>\n

Carol Klocek, the CEO of the Center for Transforming Lives, said the partnership is meant to provide services without barriers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen who haven\u2019t sought prenatal care, it can be for a variety of reasons. It can be cost, it can be judgment, it can be that they\u2019re feeling like the provider that they\u2019re going to see is not going to understand them or understand their culture,\u201d Klocek said. \u201cAbide is really sensitive to all of those things and just meets the woman where she is to get her into care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abide is one of three new partners that started using the mobile rooms, with Texas Health Resources and UNT Health Fort Worth also using the rooms on other days.<\/p>\n

Center for Transforming Lives is the first facility that Abide is using for their mobile health clinic. The Dallas-based health nonprofit was given the bus in 2023 and looked for the best place to dispatch the unit.<\/p>\n

Since December, Abide held town halls and met with maternal health groups in Tarrant County to find the best first location for the clinic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really focused on what the community was saying that they needed,\u201d said Jessica Dupree, vice president of clinical operations at Abide. \u201cWe never want to be community-placed, we want to be community-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nonprofit decided to partner with the Center for Transforming Lives because of its location in the community and the facility\u2019s child care services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were ready to host mobile health care, and it really turned out to be a blessing, because our numbers are increasing,\u201d Dupree said. \u201cIt gives us more room and flexibility to be able to have more clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abide started in south Dallas back in 2017, looking to provide health services in a perinatal desert, where people have less access to maternal health resources. The nonprofit also looks to tackle the growing concern of maternal health for Black women, who are three times more likely to die<\/a> because of a pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Abide\u2019s services are unique. While checkups with regular providers are often short appointments, Abide\u2019s midwives are closer with patients, said Krystle Thomas, director of client resources and education at the nonprofit.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur midwives spend time with the clients, making sure that they have everything they need for them and their baby and their pregnancy to thrive,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n

Since opening its brick-and-mortar clinic in 2020, Abide has seen tremendous growth. The nonprofit has seen a 30% to 40% increase year-over-year, Dupree said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part of that growth came from service demand across North Texas. In 2024, 9% of their clients came from Tarrant County, and Abide had clients from 10 other counties, Dupree said.<\/p>\n

Abide charges $35 per appointment, but is willing to work with patients to provide services at a cost they can afford.<\/p>\n

At the end of September, Abide\u2019s schedule was completely booked in Fort Worth. Dupree said the nonprofit is currently looking to expand services to continue servicing Tarrant County residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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