February 12, 2009 Issue
Dropout Prevention Program Provides Support for Pregnant Teens
Story by Kathleen McFadden
An innovative program that’s just getting off the ground will provide pregnant teens at Watauga High School with wraparound support aimed at helping them stay in school, have healthy pregnancies and learn parenting skills.
Funded by a $70,000 grant from the Dropout Prevention Committee at the Department of Public Instruction, the program assigns a certified doula to each pregnant teenager who voluntarily elects to be part of the program, and the doula will provide prenatal, birth and postpartum support to each girl. The idea is to create a support system that bridges the gap of available services, according to Crystal Kelly, a graduate student in social work at Appalachian. Kelly and former Children’s Council Executive Director Jennifer Wilson-Kearse co-wrote the grant that funds the program through July 2010.
Doulas are experienced in childbirth and trained to provide emotional, physical and informational support to mothers before, during and after their babies are born.
The doulas who are participating in the program will work with the girls throughout their pregnancies, Kelly said, attend the births and then follow up with home visits to help with the adjustment of having a baby in the house. “This is a very intensive support program,” Kelly said. Because it’s more informal than an agency program, she said, it allows close relationships to develop.
But those doula-mother relationships do not preclude family relationships or exclude an already-existing support network. In fact, the help a doula provides can enhance an existing support system by providing information about and access to community resources, by providing an extra pair of hands to pitch in with tasks and by providing advice on baby care—from breastfeeding to proper positioning for sleep.
And doulas do not advocate any particular birth method, but respect the prospective mother’s wishes. The doula’s job is simply to support the mother along the path she chooses.
During the program, Kelly will track a number of factors and their impacts: childcare availability, whether the girls stay in school, grades and attendance, and the girls’ view of the support network.
Similar programs in other parts of the country, Kelly said, have resulted in better birth outcomes, increased graduation rates and better bonding between mothers and their babies.
“By providing good service and keeping good documentation, we hope to identify and fill any gaps,” Kelly said. “Lack of childcare? Lack of support? Previously, there has been no way to identify or track these gaps.”
Five teens, girls aged 16 and 17, began receiving services last week. One of the girls has already delivered her baby.
These girls also have access to a support group at the high school facilitated by Jennifer Wandler, a clinical social worker. The support group has been meeting since the beginning of the year and provides the girls with information on healthy pregnancies, referrals to community resources and support in meeting their educational goals.
As a corollary to the dropout program, Kelly is also working to form a community doula program in the High Country and is holding a postpartum doula workshop from Tuesday to Thursday, March 31 to April 2, at First Baptist Church on King Street. The class will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. each day and costs $425. Completion of the postpartum workshop is the first step in becoming a certified doula, and the class focuses on the needs of mothers, babies and their families. A limited number of partial scholarships are available. Women who feel called to the work but who cannot afford the training can contact Crystal Kelly at cjkellygirs@gmail.com or 828-773-8744 to discuss the scholarship program. For a brochure about the class, contact Debbie Young at 1-866-941-5222, 563-370-4360 or debbie@babymatters.org.
For more information about doulas, click to www.dona.org.
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