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CREDIBILITY THROUGH
PROFESSIONAL CLIENT CARE
By Heather Akiyama and Janet Starr
What opinions do healthcare professionals in your community have about your pregnancy center? Do doctors, nurses, and social workers refer patients to your center? Do you have professional credibility, or do they think of you as a "fake clinic"? I recently stumbled across a Web site (www.fwhc.org/abortion/fake.htm) blasting pregnancy centers for providing false and misleading information to young women in unintended pregnancies. They gave the following advice: "If you discover you are seeking help from an anti-abortion facility, protect yourself from further harassment. Leave immediately and do not return. When you do locate a professional clinic that offers information about all options, be sure to tell them about your experience at the fake clinic, and let them help you sort out the facts from the religious views or outright lies you have been told."
 The malice and distrust many people feel toward pregnancy centers is evident, and pro-life organizations feel the same dislike toward pro-choice and feminist groups. In light of all the hostility between the two sides, is it possible that doctors, nurses, and yes, even clinics such as Planned Parenthood will recognize the quality and value of your services? Without compromising your core values, you can provide a service that anyone can find valuable, regardless of their pro-life or pro-choice stance.
Pro-life and pro-choice organizations reach similar populations: at-risk, vulnerable young women and their families. Many also have the same desires for the people they serve. These include providing education, encouraging healthy lifestyles, reducing teen pregnancies, and helping teen parents succeed. The motivations, values, and strategies used to help achieve these desires differ dramatically, however. Abstinence-only education vs. comprehensive sex education, safe sex vs. no sex, and promoting adoption vs. offering abortion name a few of the battle lines that have been drawn. Without selling out their pro-life beliefs, pregnancy centers can forge a truce with pro-choice organizations by being honest and by serving in an excellent, professional manner. "We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way" (2 Corinthians 6:3, 4a).
In order to win the trust of both clients and community professionals, pregnancy clinics must be professional and offer truthful, unbiased information supported by current medical research. From the first phone call through a client's counseling session, pregnancy test, and ultrasound, the primary objective is authenticity. It has to be her welfare, not an agenda that drives your compassion.
Increasingly, pregnancy centers work to meet the education, support, and resource needs of their vulnerable clients. They desire to support and nurture these women with a growing realization that her decision to continue with her pregnancy may also bring many challenges and frightening choices. In response, many centers have begun the process of providing information through incentives programs and individual learning. These centers may even be ready to make the leap to a professional childbirth and early parenting education program.
DO YOU HAVE PROFESSIONAL
CREDIBILITY, OR ARE
YOU THOUGHT OF AS
A "FAKE CLINIC"?
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One of the biggest needs of pregnant families is childbirth education. Any woman facing her first pregnancy and birth can be terrified and full of questions about her body and her baby. Many long for the company of other people who are on the same journey of pregnancy and parenting. Therefore, attending Childbirth Preparation or "Lamaze" classes is a standard part of pregnancy for most families. The trouble is, traditional classes do not meet the unique learning needs of pregnancy center clients and as a result, many do not attend classes at all. Others, because they feel different than the rest of the class, have difficulty internalizing and applying the information they receive from the classes at a hospital or other health care facility. It is uncommon to find a prenatal education program anywhere that creates a strong learning environment for women in difficult pregnancy situations. The fear and uncertainty she feels may drive a woman to choose abortion even when she wants to keep her baby. Pregnant women who attended childbirth classes at one pregnancy center shared that the support and education they received saved them from making a decision they would later regret.
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PREGNANCY CENTER CLIENTS
ARE AT INCREASED RISK
OF PRETERM LABOR, BIRTH
DEFECTS, AND LABOR AND
BIRTH COMPLICATIONS.
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Women facing unplanned pregnancies are unique in a number of ways. Many lack the knowledge, resources, and encouragement they need to ensure a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. A 2004 survey of its clients by one pregnancy center in Washington State revealed that 43.2 percent of clients reported that they smoke, 32 percent reported using alcohol or illicit drugs during pregnancy, and 33 percent were under age 20. These statistics are more than double national averages for all pregnant women, putting pregnancy center clients at increased risk of preterm labor, birth defects, and labor and birth complications. In addition, pregnancy center clients tend to lack security and often face relationship changes, housing difficulties, nutritional deficits, loss of dreams, and carry much stress, grief, and anger in their lives. These stress factors make it difficult for pregnant women to accept pregnancy, bond with their babies, and prepare for labor, birth, and parenting. They need a safe place to unwind, share their triumphs and tragedies, take joy in the new life growing inside, connect with other moms and dads in similar situations, and learn how to care for themselves and their babies. In your pregnancy center, families in distress can experience God's peace. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).
You can provide a safe learning environment by offering professional childbirth classes that are up to date, evidence based, and accurate. If you take the time to understand the needs of the population you serve and then design a program to meet those needs, you can make a significant, long-term impact in the lives of mothers and fathers facing unplanned pregnancies and their babies.
MOMS WITH CRISIS
PREGNANCIES DON'T OFTEN
FEEL COMFORTABLE IN
TRADITIONAL HOSPITAL
BIRTHING CLASSES.
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A few key components are necessary to ensure highly effective childbirth and early parenting education programs for pregnancy center clients. Classes should be fun, interactive, and taught by certified childbirth educators. The curriculum must be evidence based, relevant, and comprehensive. Education about nutrition, fetal development, preterm birth, maintaining a healthy pregnancy, stress management, newborn care, breastfeeding, labor and birth, and postpartum should all be included. Combining childbirth classes with an incentives or "Earn While You Learn" program increases participation. When given the right information, presented in an understandable and effective way, clients are capable of making smart choices for both themselves and their babies.
One amazing side-effect of meeting education and support needs effectively for your clients is that they will share their life-changing experience at your center with everyone they know. Your classes will gain a reputation in your community for excellence in meeting the needs of families facing unplanned pregnancies. Doctors, public health nurses, and yes, even Planned Parenthood may refer clients to your pregnancy center for your childbirth education program. This response is not a fantasy, but it is a reality for pregnancy centers choosing to invest their resources in quality prenatal education for their community.
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