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stretch beyond any boundary or disparity," says
Destiny Little, assistant nursemanager at the center.
"Our goal at Center forWomen is to provide our
patients with knowledge that empowers them to
make healthiest decisions, and the necessary tools
to assure they succeed.”
While the center has offered free or low-cost
birthing andprenatal classes in the past, less than
one percent of womenwere able to attend them for
many reasons, includingmissing time fromwork,
lack of transportation, and childcare needs. The
Haines gift allowed the center to increase the
number of classes—and take them to awhole new
level, with an innovative eLearning program.
Launched in February 2014, the eLearning program
introduced 25 to 45–minute educational sessions
on tablets that patients can complete in thewaiting
roombefore their prenatal appointments. The goal
of the program is to decrease pretermbirths and
avoid unnecessary health risks to ensuremothers
have healthier pregnancies andbabies. The easy-to-
followelectronic lessons, which aremainly
comprised of videos and limited readingmaterial,
provide easy access to crucial information for the
very best outcomes.
“I wish I had taken these classes when I was
pregnant the first time,” saysManole Jones-Bird, one
of the center’s prenatal students. “They have
answered a lot of questions I had then that never
really got answered.” Those included questions
about her changing body andwhat she shouldbe
eating, whichwere explained in the programs’s
anatomy lessons and nutrition classes. Throughout
three stages of pregnancy, sessions also cover topics
such as prenatal care, labor anddelivery, baby
basics, andbreastfeeding.