Special Delivery Club -- REAL STORIES

Special Delivery Club

The North Kingston Community Health Centre has gained a national reputation for the prenatal program it runs for pregnant teenagers.

The CHC began the program in 1990 to respond to the needs of the local community, but decided to "export" its expertise in programming when it became obvious how many other interested groups would benefit.

Now, Health Canada routinely refers groups that work with pregnant teen to the Ontario CHC, notes Health Promotion Coordinator, Nadia Zurba.

"Joining the group gave me back the hope
for a future that I had lost."

To date, the CHC has sold more than 350 of its "Special Delivery Club Kits", a package consisting of a manual and all the necessary materials for groups to run a series of lively, fun and educational sessions for pregnant teenagers. The CHC has no advertising budget and has sold the kits, which cost $335 (including all taxes and shipping), strictly through word of mouth and Health Canada’s Regional contacts.

Why are the kits proving so popular? Sara Craig is a graduate of one of the early CHC classes.

"I was 14 when I first got pregnant. I was depressed and I dropped out of school and a lot of my friends went away. But joining the group gave me back the hope for a future that I had lost," Craig explained.

The kit, first produced in 1992, is now in its third edition, available in English and French and Craig, 22, is now peer facilitator for the CHC program that proved so helpful to her. She is also a nursing student at Queen's University, and a mother of two. "When the participants see me, I hope it helps them realize that after they have a baby, they still have a future, and that help is out there. We really encourage them to get back to school.

Craig, who trained as a peer facilitator while she was still in highschool, notes that "it's hard enough for mature people to have kids. A lot of the girls in the group live at home; they have no income and have never lived on their own. And people look down on them because they are young."

Only 3.8 per cent of the participants (1990 to 1997) had low birth weight babies, compared to a Canadian average for teenagers
of 6.7 per cent.

Teenage pregnancy is generally associated with risks such as delayed or inadequate prenatal care, anemia, smoking, poor nutrition, and pregnant teenagers can face daunting obstacles like poverty and lack of family and community support.

But the CHC program's results demonstrate how the 12 week program, which runs three times a year, improves the lives of the teenagers and their babies.

For example, only 3.8 per cent of the participants (1990 to 1997) had low birth weight babies, compared to a Canadian average for teenagers of 6.7 per cent. Low birth weight is associated with greater long term health problems. As well, the average weight gain among participants in 1997 was 35.5 lbs -- the recommended gain for teenagers, but higher than the Canadian average.

The program has also been successful in promoting breast feeding, which has clear health benefits for the babies. At birth, over 65 per cent of the young mothers in the CHC program were breast feeding. Helping them to continue breast feeding over the longer term -- at 3 months, only 30 per cent continued -- is still a challenge facing the program.