Grant helps YWCA expand parenting programs

Feb. 17--HIGH POINT -- A recent $10,000 grant is allowing the High Point YWCA to expand its parenting programs.

The grant, awarded by the Partnership for Children of Guilford County through its pilot Toddler and Infant Impact program, will support the YWCA's new Healthy Beginnings program in reducing infant mortality rates in minority communities.

Healthy Beginnings is a state-funded Department of Health and Human Services program that seeks to support soon-to-be minority parents.

"A big part of the program is to ensure that they are getting the care they need while they're pregnant, to have healthy birth outcomes," said Heidi Majors, executive director of the YWCA. "There is truly a health disparity among women of color, especially African-American women in the infant mortality rates."

A 2019 report from the state health department found the 2017 rate of infant mortality had plateaued in the state at 7.1 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

For African-American live births, the rate rises to 12.5, versus 5.0 for white births.

The state health department says the deaths are largely due to risk factors in the mother's life; if the mother is in poor health while pregnant, due to a lack of insurance or poverty, the risk of infant mortality rises.

"Black families in North Carolina are more than twice as likely to experience extreme poverty than white families," the report states. "Structural and institutional racism, which are hard to quantify but certainly contribute to the racial disparity in infant deaths, must also be addressed."

Majors said the Healthy Beginnings program includes individualized support, from transportation and education to providing baby clothes.

The program requires young women to register while pregnant or by the time they are two months postpartum, and allows them to stay in the program until their child is 2 years old. Participants attend group meetings at the YWCA and must agree to home visits, all with a focus on health and wellness for parents and children.

The YWCA also works with younger mothers in their Adolescent Parenting Program. Michelle Morrison, director of APP, has worked with the program in multiple roles, including as a case manager. Morrison said the support she gives goes beyond that of a director, to the point that she goes into the delivery room with some teens, attends their high school graduations and gives them transportation to their doctor's visits.

APP participants must be teenagers who are either in school or pursuing their GED, and who are either pregnant or parenting a maximum of one child.

One girl Morrison worked with recently graduated high school after becoming pregnant at 12 and dropping out of school during her senior year.

"To watch her walk across the stage, it's just...just being able to see that, being a part, knowing that you're making a difference is just the biggest piece for me," Morrison said.

Only one of the APP participants has had a repeat adolescent pregnancy in 18 years, Majors said.

APP functions in much the same way as Healthy Beginnings, with peer group meetings and home visits, but adds school visits at Andrews and Central High Schools.

Majors said case managers in APP also take adolescent parents on tours of colleges, ranging from universities to trade schools, and of hospitals to make them more comfortable with their surroundings during doctor's visits and birth.

"We encourage all our participants to strive high for their goals," Majors said. "To watch how many of these young ladies come along, and they're beating the odds and they're succeeding."

The Healthy Beginnings program is currently seeking further participants. If you are interested, contact the YWCA at (336) 882-4126.

azeugner@hpenews.com -- 336-888-3617

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