Agency Helping Teen Mom Chart Her Own Course

posted on Saturday 12, 2011

It’s a struggle for Grant, a Broward College nursing student and single mom, but with a helping hand from the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Broward County, she has made it so far. Case managers there “encouraged me to think about the baby, think about the future,” Grant said.

Today her toddler is a bundle of energy, smiling and giggling for his mother, who revels in his full-body hugs.

But getting to this point hasn’t been easy.

It almost didn’t happen.

Grant’s pregnancy was a surprise that overwhelmed and frightened the 10th-grader so much, she planned an abortion. Although she’s been with her elderly grandparents since she was 5, she felt scared and alone. Her father died long ago and her mother was deported to Jamaica.  Grant called abortion clinics looking for a way out, and a clinic told her how to apply for a judge to let her bypass the parental consent rule, provided she were ruled knowledgeable enough to choose abortion. When she went to court, the judge asked her if she would consider adoption. She refused, saying she would worry forever about whether strangers took proper care of her baby.

Grant said she was granted her papers and had a male friend drive her to get an abortion. But her momentum was thwarted when the clinic told her she’d need an extra $100 — the tab had spiked from $530 because she was a week further along in the pregnancy than she thought. She went back to the baby’s father for the money, and he gave it to her.

But as the friend drove her to the clinic for the second time, he started talking about how he regretted encouraging his own girlfriend to get an abortion. Grant started to pine for her unborn child.

“I was having second thoughts,” she said. “I started crying, ‘I can’t do it. Take me home.’ And that was it.”

That was just the start, actually. Once she found an obstetrician, the doctor told her about Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Broward County

Grant was assigned to case manager Cecelia “Miss CeCe” Vickers, who taught her the fundamentals of pregnancy: no alcohol or smoking, no drugs without the doctor’s OK, don’t lift anything heavy, drink lots of water. There were classes on what to expect during delivery and, once Nathaniel was safely home, the proper way to bathe a newborn. During her pregnancy, Grant needed more than a rule book. She needed moral support to stay in school. Vickers never let her waver from her goal of nursing.

“We made sure she has a future,” Vickers said. “She’s really determined. She’s stronger than she thinks she is.”

Once the baby was born, the real work began. Grant had to get up at 4:45 a.m. to board a school bus that came at 5:40 a.m. to attend 11th-grade classes at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach. She slept on the bus, already exhausted from her newborn demanding to be fed every two to three hours.  When school was over, she needed to collect the baby from the babysitter and tend to him while she studied. And there were internships so she could get her licensed practical nurse certification.  During this time, Healthy Mothers assisted with diapers, wipes, formula and even a highchair. The baby’s father also helps Grant financially. When Grant couldn’t get to group sessions on parenting skills, Vickers came to her grandparents’ Fort Lauderdale home, sat on the couch and gave private lessons. More than once she held the baby so Grant could nap.

“Unfortunately, teen pregnancy is on the rise, and when teens don’t get the support they need, they get stuck,” said Kathy Dunbar, executive director of Healthy Mothers. “Oftentimes, the case managers are the primary source of support.”

The Palm Beach County chapter of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition also focuses on helping teenage mothers and working with impoverished adults to get prenatal care and Medicaid. In 1985, the year before the chapter incorporated, 900 women at one West Palm Beach hospital delivered their babies without any prenatal care, said executive director Cathy Cohn. High rates of infant mortality and underweight babies were the result.  Since then, many more Palm Beach County women get prenatal care; only 2 percent still don’t, down from 20 percent in 1985, she said.

“There isn’t anyone else who provides the support and assistance for pregnant women who don’t know where to go,” Cohn said.

Grant seems to know where she’s going now, and she has plans for her son, who’s already trying to “read” his few baby books.  When she becomes a registered nurse, she wants to work in a hospital ICU.

“I want to be in a place that has the most drama, the most blood, the most trauma, because it’s exciting and those are the people who need the most help,” she said.

For now, Grant wishes she had the money to take Nathaniel for a luxury, like dinner at Chuck E. Cheese. One day she wants to buy a home with a separate bedroom for Nathaniel. Once her nursing career is well under way, she’d love to get married.

“I want much better,” Grant said. “I want to be happy.”

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@SunSentinel.com or 954-572-2008.

It’s a struggle for Grant, a Broward College nursing student and single mom, but with a helping hand from the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Broward County, she has made it so far. Case managers there “encouraged me to think about the baby, think about the future,” Grant said.

Today her toddler is a bundle of energy, smiling and giggling for his mother, who revels in his full-body hugs.

But getting to this point hasn’t been easy.

It almost didn’t happen.

Grant’s pregnancy was a surprise that overwhelmed and frightened the 10th-grader so much, she planned an abortion. Although she’s been with her elderly grandparents since she was 5, she felt scared and alone. Her father died long ago and her mother was deported to Jamaica.  Grant called abortion clinics looking for a way out, and a clinic told her how to apply for a judge to let her bypass the parental consent rule, provided she were ruled knowledgeable enough to choose abortion. When she went to court, the judge asked her if she would consider adoption. She refused, saying she would worry forever about whether strangers took proper care of her baby.

Grant said she was granted her papers and had a male friend drive her to get an abortion. But her momentum was thwarted when the clinic told her she’d need an extra $100 — the tab had spiked from $530 because she was a week further along in the pregnancy than she thought. She went back to the baby’s father for the money, and he gave it to her.

But as the friend drove her to the clinic for the second time, he started talking about how he regretted encouraging his own girlfriend to get an abortion. Grant started to pine for her unborn child.

“I was having second thoughts,” she said. “I started crying, ‘I can’t do it. Take me home.’ And that was it.”

That was just the start, actually. Once she found an obstetrician, the doctor told her about Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Broward County

Grant was assigned to case manager Cecelia “Miss CeCe” Vickers, who taught her the fundamentals of pregnancy: no alcohol or smoking, no drugs without the doctor’s OK, don’t lift anything heavy, drink lots of water. There were classes on what to expect during delivery and, once Nathaniel was safely home, the proper way to bathe a newborn. During her pregnancy, Grant needed more than a rule book. She needed moral support to stay in school. Vickers never let her waver from her goal of nursing.

“We made sure she has a future,” Vickers said. “She’s really determined. She’s stronger than she thinks she is.”

Once the baby was born, the real work began. Grant had to get up at 4:45 a.m. to board a school bus that came at 5:40 a.m. to attend 11th-grade classes at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach. She slept on the bus, already exhausted from her newborn demanding to be fed every two to three hours.  When school was over, she needed to collect the baby from the babysitter and tend to him while she studied. And there were internships so she could get her licensed practical nurse certification.  During this time, Healthy Mothers assisted with diapers, wipes, formula and even a highchair. The baby’s father also helps Grant financially. When Grant couldn’t get to group sessions on parenting skills, Vickers came to her grandparents’ Fort Lauderdale home, sat on the couch and gave private lessons. More than once she held the baby so Grant could nap.

“Unfortunately, teen pregnancy is on the rise, and when teens don’t get the support they need, they get stuck,” said Kathy Dunbar, executive director of Healthy Mothers. “Oftentimes, the case managers are the primary source of support.”

The Palm Beach County chapter of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition also focuses on helping teenage mothers and working with impoverished adults to get prenatal care and Medicaid. In 1985, the year before the chapter incorporated, 900 women at one West Palm Beach hospital delivered their babies without any prenatal care, said executive director Cathy Cohn. High rates of infant mortality and underweight babies were the result.  Since then, many more Palm Beach County women get prenatal care; only 2 percent still don’t, down from 20 percent in 1985, she said.

“There isn’t anyone else who provides the support and assistance for pregnant women who don’t know where to go,” Cohn said.

Grant seems to know where she’s going now, and she has plans for her son, who’s already trying to “read” his few baby books.  When she becomes a registered nurse, she wants to work in a hospital ICU.

“I want to be in a place that has the most drama, the most blood, the most trauma, because it’s exciting and those are the people who need the most help,” she said.

For now, Grant wishes she had the money to take Nathaniel for a luxury, like dinner at Chuck E. Cheese. One day she wants to buy a home with a separate bedroom for Nathaniel. Once her nursing career is well under way, she’d love to get married.

“I want much better,” Grant said. “I want to be happy.”

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@SunSentinel.com or 954-572-2008.