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Nurses For Newborns
Nurses
For Newborns Foundation is saving the lives of newborn babies by reaching
out to parents who need help. Volunteer pediatric nurses go into homes
to teach parents how to care for their infants and recognize the signs
of illness. About 90% of the mothers visited are single mothers who
need extra help and support. "Because I didn't have any money,"
one mother said, "I was worried—should I eat, because I was
breast feeding, or should I buy diapers? It was really a scary situation."
Nurses For Newborn's mission is to help prevent infant mortality, child
abuse and neglect by going directly into homes to teach healthcare and
positive parenting skills. "A lot of the neglect that we see is
not neglect in the eyes of the parents—if they knew it was neglect,
they wouldn't do it," says Sharon Rohrbach, a nurse in the program.
"We're very excited about the effectiveness of our teen parent
program. Most of that success is really due to the nurses being a mentor,
encouraging teen moms to stay in school and to really do something with
their life."
"The organization was out there for me when I was in that very
vulnerable position," says one young woman who became pregnant
when she was sixteen years old. "I've come so far. I'm married
with three children and I work at a bank."
Sharon says, "It really is a privilege to be a part of these babies
lives and to watch them grow. I'm sure that I receive much more in joy
and peace than what I'm giving."
Visit
the Nurses For Newborns website
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