Pasadena Birthing Project

I've been working with a Non-profit agency for my writing class in the USC School of Business. This is a write-up I did for them that summarizes their mission, the problem they're working to solve, and the solution. While it isn't formatted in the pretty way it is on Word, and doesn't have the pretty pictures, you get the idea. It's a great cause, and I'm happy to be a part of it.

WHY THE PASADENA BIRTHING PROJECT ?

"Children are an heritage of the Lord"
-Psalms 127:3


For One who has created the beautiful Earth on which we and all Life dwell, there must be something very special about what the Lord himself claims is His heritage. Of all that He made – the waters of the sea, the rocks that form mountains, the leaves that adorn the forest trees, the billowing clouds of heaven and the stars that shine at night, all creatures great and small, from the birds above to the fish beneath – of all of the magnificent creations of this earth, children are His legacy.

This certainly says something about the worth of a child in God’s eyes, and hopefully gives us a greater appreciation for them as well. We have all surely felt the warmth of a child’s smile in our heart or experienced the calm that can come from their innocent presence. They make the world’s burdens light and shine hope into what would otherwise be hopeless situations.

But beyond their capacity to make our lives better lies their divine right to experience life for themselves. A child deserves the opportunity not only to bring their light into the world, but also to develop it, and utilize it in order to achieve their divine potential.

THE PROBLEM

Unfortunately, as is the case in many urban areas around the country, the African American community in Pasadena has a high rate of infant mortality. In other words, a high rate of babies die either while the mother is giving birth or at some point during their first year of life, thereby ending their opportunity to bring their light into the world. In a country as blessed as the United States, with its wealth of medical knowledge and resources, this is simply unacceptable. It points not necessarily to a failure in the system, but to a lack of education about the system.

Mothers, for whatever reason, do not or cannot access the resources they need to keep themselves and their baby healthy during this critical time in the their development. This problem, more often than not, can be solved simply by connecting the person in need with the services available.

THE SOLUTION

The Pasadena Birthing Project provides that connection: a mentor, who by providing direction, emotional support and education to the mother, will help keep her and her baby alive and healthy. This mentor will be there for the mother during pregnancy, and will continue to support her for one year after the birth of the child. In most circumstances, the mother will now be fully capable of providing for the health and well being of her child, and will be able to give that child the chance to shine his or her light into the world.

THE FAMILY

The family is the most basic and fundamentally important unit in society. It is within the walls of a home where a child learns his or her worth in the eyes of God, and learns the worth of his brothers and sisters, his mother and father. Love is learned in the home, and skills are taught that will enable the child to function in society and interact with the world.

Every child deserves to be born into this kind of family atmosphere, within the bonds of matrimony, to be reared by a mother and father who honor each other and their obligations as parents. While this family unit is the ideal, many people find themselves in a variety of other circumstances, including single-parent families (a situation especially prevalent within the Black Community). But God loves all his children, without exception, regardless of the family situations in which they find themselves, and the Birthing Project seeks to make His love felt by creating an “extended family” for the mother and child.

Each volunteer woman claims one pregnant teen or woman as her “sister,” thus enabling every woman to have a Sister Friend and every child to have an Aunt. This Sister Friend will make sure her sister is getting the proper prenatal care during pregnancy, she will be with her sister during labor, and she will be there to welcome the child into the world.

Other volunteer women claim the grandmothers of the newly born children (often women who simply didn’t expect to become grandmothers this early in life) and become their Mother Friend. Mother Friends are grandmothers themselves, and as such, have gained precious wisdom through their life experience, which they can then impart to the new grandmothers.

During the next year, the Mother Friend will continue in her role, and the Sister Friend will continue her in her role, teaching her sister essential parenting and life skills: how to find housing, transportation, child care, drug rehabilitation, etc., and how to set and achieve educational and/or employment goals. The Sister Friend imparts her time, her love, her experience and wisdom to help her sister be the mother she was destined to be.

The “extended family” that has been forged by these new relationships will serve to provide an environment of love and affection, and will be a refuge from the storms of life. In this family, the child will be given the opportunity to shine.