Mentoring promotes better baby care
Program targets pregnant teens
More and more outreach programs are using lay educators as a method of changing behavior and improving health care outcomes for at-risk pregnant women. Early Connections is one of these programs. This program, which pairs pregnant teens with a mentor, referred to as a resource mother, was launched in June 1997 with a two-year grant from the Alexandria, VA-based United Way for $108,000.The Palmdale, CA-based program is a collaborative effort of several community agencies, but it is run by Life Steps, a nonprofit organization that serves the disadvantaged and developmentally disabled.
Thirty teens in the third trimester of their pregnancy were enrolled in the program, and they will remain until their children are 1 year old, explains Lea Butterfield, MA, program director for Life Steps and project coordinator for Early Connections. Benefits include access to the local public hospital’s comprehensive perinatal services program that provides counseling, breast-feeding education, and infant CPR. Also, teens participate in a class titled "Mommy, Daddy, and Me," where they learn about bonding with their baby, nutrition during pregnancy, and fetal development.
After the birth of the baby, class curriculum focuses on child development; well baby care, including nutrition; and coping skills. Fathers are encouraged to come to the class as well. Resource moms keep in touch with the teens via the telephone and face-to-face visits to answer questions and provide information. (To read about another mentoring program for pregnant teens, see special insert, Focus on Pediatrics.)
Resource mothers must have children of their own and have a stable home life. Many were referred by people who worked for the agencies that collaborated on the project. For example, Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, CA, put a notice on the hospital e-mail system, and several nurses responded.
Training consists of a one-day seminar where topics cover the definition of a mentor and what resource mothers can do to help a teen and what they can’t do. For example, they aren’t allowed to baby-sit. "We are trying to differentiate between becoming enabling and being supportive," explains Butterfield. Follow-up training included sessions in which actual cases are discussed.
Although Early Connections has not been operating long enough to evaluate the program’s effectiveness, Butterfield sees signs of success. "We have 80% of the teens breast-feeding, which is high, for that isn’t something a teen usually wants to do. We had another young mother we thought was at risk for not bonding with her baby, but she is one of the most in-love moms," she says.
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