Program areas at Living Hope Pregnancy Center of Ponca City
Living Hope encourages individuals to choose life for their unborn children so they may experience abundant life. Our 6 staff and 18 volunteers and peer counselors, working 48 hours a week, maintain a Material Needs room and a Maternity Boutique that contain maternity clothing, infant clothing, diapers, wipes, formula, and other care needs, and most importantly provide a listening ear for our clients. There have been 359 visits to our Center to receive assistance and 9 hospital visits to check on new families. Our Code Pink book tracks all our mothers with monthly phone calls during the pregnancy and until 6 months after the child is delivered to see if they have any questions or needs and send digital educational materials. The average number of mothers each month in Code Pink is 44. Our in-hospital visits were not allowed after COVID19 restrictions began.
Living Hope offers Baby Boot Camp twice a year to instruct mothers, fathers, and a support person, plus foster parents in several areas of newborn and infant care in a one day class setting so they can become confident, aware, and become better parents. Topics include basic baby well-infant care, infant CPR emergencies, car seat safety, breastfeeding instruction, toy safety, infant bonding and baby wearing, nutrition, abusive head trauma, a break-out session for women entitled Ask a Nurse, and a break-out session for men to educate them on their important role in parenting in an interactive, fun, and stress-free environment. Normally, lunch, snacks, and childcare are provided as part of the event at no cost to the attendees. During 2020, we had to adjust to COVID19 and created a virtual program where our attendees could watch from the safety of their homes. We had 16 family units attend our Baby Boot Camps.
Those clients in Living Hopes Medical Program are seen by a volunteer RN. During 2020, we had 79 self-read pregnancy tests, and performed 25 ultrasounds, and provided prenatal vitamins. Each woman with a positive pregnancy test and ultrasound receives a Mommy Bag that contains various education information and prenatal vitamins. The women are added to our Code Pink program for monthly follow up with our Client Connect Coordinator. The number of ultrasounds performed this year were limited due to COVID19.