Tampa Bay – It’s not your typical doctor office, and 25-year-old Charlie Young likes it that way. She’s the brainchild behind the Barefoot Bus.
“This is something I’ve always thought about,” Young said. “They have immunization clinics, they have blood mobiles, why couldn’t we do prenatal care?”
It’s an old white bus, currently parked in her grandmother’s yard in Sydney. Young is restoring it to become a mobile prenatal clinic. She’s a student midwife. Once she gets her certification, she’ll get the wheels rolling on her mobile clinic. While she won’t actually deliver any babies on board, she plans to offer checkups, bimonthly exams, and lab work.
“Women who might have to work full time can’t find time in their schedule or might have to go across town to get a place that takes their insurance or medicaid,” Young said. “So we come to them.”
The Barefoot Bus care is only for low risk pregnancies. Young says the staff will provide information about Medicaid. If expectant mothers aren’t eligible they’ll offer a sliding scale for care. She says the women who need a listening ear the most, can’t afford it.
