Exploring Life & Business with Dr. Gelen del Rosario and Dr. Arij Faksh of Bridge Prenatal
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Today, we’d like to introduce you to Gelen and Arij.
Hi Gelen and Arij, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Each of us took a unique path to becoming women’s health physicians in California, but our shared commitment to improving care for those who need it most brought us together to co-create Bridge Prenatal.
Dr. Del Rosario’s journey began in a rural area of the Philippines with limited resources, where her passion for women’s health, especially the birthing population, was inspired by the strong women in her community. Immigrating to the United States allowed her to pursue her dream of becoming a healthcare advocate. She earned her degree and now works as an Ob/Gyn with 12 years of experience, serving women in underprivileged communities. Specializing in women’s healthcare, she focuses on diagnosing and treating conditions affecting women of all backgrounds, with a particular emphasis on supporting expecting mothers through pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. Dr. Del Rosario is dedicated to empowering underserved women by providing the tools they need for healthy lives, drawing on her background in public health and her identity as a woman of color to better understand the health needs of diverse populations.
Dr. Faksh, a first-generation American, is deeply grateful for the sacrifices her parents made in immigrating from Syria to provide her with better opportunities. Before medical school, she taught high school chemistry in rural Maine, where a student facing an unplanned pregnancy inspired her to pursue a career in women’s health. Through hard work and mentorship, she became an Ob/Gyn and completed a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. With 10 years of experience, she practices as a MFM physician and serves as a clinical consultant at a local Federally Qualified Health Center. Dr. Faksh has seen first-hand the rise in high-risk pregnancies due to comorbidities, geographic barriers, and maternity deserts, prompting her to seek innovative solutions for accessible care. Drawing from her father’s experience with home health services, she advocates for similar personalized care for birthing people.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A significant challenge in caring for our birthing population is the disparity in timely access to care, leading to higher maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Underserved communities often face delays in prenatal care, inadequate postpartum follow-up, and reduced continuity of care due to socioeconomic barriers, cultural differences, and systemic biases. These inequities impact both short- and long-term health outcomes. Our mission is to advocate for equitable, high-quality, and culturally sensitive care for all birthing people, ensuring they receive the support they need and deserve.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our organization, Bridge Prenatal, founded in 2024, serves a diverse population of birthing people from underserved areas in Southern California. Headquartered in National City, CA, we provide supplemental prenatal and postpartum, multi-disciplinary, team-based care to Medi-Cal-insured individuals throughout San Diego County and the Inland Empire.
With the generous support of our contracted health plans and grant funding, we offer an enhanced care management (ECM) solution focused on early, frequent engagement with high-risk members, innovative maternal-fetal monitoring, and a personalized, evidence-based approach to care. Bridge Prenatal complements a patient’s existing care by shifting key aspects of routine prenatal and postnatal support—including social determinants of health assessments, blood pressure checks, mental health screenings, pregnancy monitoring, doula education, postpartum follow-up, and lactation support—from the outpatient setting or hospital to the patient’s home, ensuring care meets her where she is with a compassionate, individualized touch. What sets us apart is our ability to meet patients where they are at, by bringing care directly to the patient, in the comfort and safety of their own home or through telehealth appointments with our highly qualified team composed of registered nurses, doulas, social workers, lactation consultants, and sonographers. Our supplemental services which all include direct physician oversight provide an extra layer of support in an effort to bridge the health equity gap and promote comprehensive care.
Our goal is to enhance the recognition and management of complex health concerns in high-risk, marginalized populations while promoting access to respectful, equitable care while making a positive impact on the health and well-being of the community.
What makes you happy?
At Bridge Prenatal, we take time during all-staff meetings and departmental huddles to acknowledge and celebrate our “wins”—whether it’s a mother succeeding with breastfeeding, securing stable housing, accessing mental health resources, or arranging transportation to medical appointments. What brings us the greatest joy is seeing our team come together to make a meaningful impact on our patients’ lives. Knowing that, in our own way, we are helping to bridge gaps in maternal care is incredibly fulfilling. Each time we support a mother and her newborn in receiving the care they deserve, we are reminded of the profound impact our services have on both individual lives and the broader community.
Pricing:
Free for Eligible Medi-Cal Patients
Contact Info:
