Joanie realized as she was preparing for her baby shower this month that not all moms are as lucky as she is.

That set off a February collection drive  that will have all her friends and co-workers donating stuff like diapers, bottles, and other things needed for an infant’s care.

It’s all a part of a community-wide baby shower for the Better Indy Babies Pantry, which helps at-risk moms-to-be.

The BIBs Pantry, located at University Heights United Methodist Church, is a ministry sponsored by the local chapter of the United Methodist Women, with more than 20 amazing volunteers from the church family.

The BIBS Pantry provides free healthy, nutritional food and hygiene items to at-risk expectant mothers and basic care items for their newborn babies. The pantry was established in 1991 in response to the high infant mortality rate in Marion County — one of the highest in the nation at the time.

It is an ongoing challenge to keep the BIBS Pantry stocked enough to keep up with the growing needs of our community.  University Heights United Methodist Women sponsors the BIBS Pantry in cooperation with HealthNet’s Better Indy Babies/Healthy Families programs.

HealthNet’s Better Indy Babies/Healthy Families programs provide home-based services to help at-risk pregnant women and parenting families. Services include health education and referrals to community resources. The Better Indy Babies program administers the Healthy Families program, a home visitation model that encourages good parent-child interactions from birth to age three. In 2011, HealthNet had more than 13,402 visits through both programs.

Shower the Little Ones With Some Love This February!

You can help too! Consider hosting a baby shower to benefit the BIBS Pantry and Better Indy Babies/Healthy Families Programs.

Bring together your friends, co-workers or family for a baby shower – you can even play a few silly shower games, if you want! New and gently used winter clothing, baby gates, new car seats, toys, and baby food are always needed.  Click here for a detailed list of needed items. You can email info@indyhealthnet.org to arrange a pick-up or delivery time.

Help Without the Hassle

Cash donations to Better Indy Babies/Healthy Families are immediate. No boxes or bags. Skip the trip to the mall — and the silly shower games. Just donate online now.

Thank you for your support of this community collaboration between HealthNet and University Heights United Methodist Church!

The Indiana Youth Institute sent out an issue alert entitled “Kids Raising Kids“, and another surprising fact to accompany the increasing teen birth rates is that one in five of these births is to a teenage girl who already is a mother.

“Children born to teen mothers are more likely than children of older parents to grow up in a poor and mother-only family, to live in a poor or underclass neighborhood, and to experience high risks to both their health status and potential school achievement.”- Issue Alert from Indiana Youth Institute

These children are 50% more likely to be born at a low birth weight and do not perform as well as children of older mothers on measures of child development and school readiness.  With these numbers increasing in Indianapolis, it is important to know what resources are out there for teen mothers in order to help them out.  In a study done by the FSU Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy, children born to teen mothers are more likely to experience abuse, neglect, and abandonment.

By raising awareness for HealthNet’s Better Indy Babies (BIBs) and Healthy Families (HF) Programs, we can change the wording of that last sentence.  Learn more about the resources available for teen mothers, or donate directly to BIBs/HF here.

According to PregnantTeenHelp.org, around 750,000 teenagers will get pregnant this year.  Breaking this down further, it comes out to about one-third of all girls in the United States will get pregnant while they are a teenager.  Additionally, more than two-thirds of these teenagers will not graduate from high school.

The bright side – the teen birth rate has dropped about one-third since the early ’90s.

Better but still surprising! The effect that teen births can have on an individual are a cause for concern.  Whether it is because of the lack of education on the subject or wanting to hide the pregnancy, teenagers are at greater risk of having little to no prenatal care, which could be harmful both to the mother-to-be and the child.  A lack of prenatal care is a great cause for concern considering that teenage mothers also have a higher risk of premature births and lower birth weights. Both of these consequences can lead to greater short-term and long-term health problems for both the mother and child.

Shedding a light on teen pregnancy is important.  It is comforting to know that teen pregnancies are declining.  But when teen pregnancies do occur, support should be first on the list.  Reminding girls of the importance of prenatal care, offering help in any way, and just talking with a pregnant teen can make a WORLD of difference.

HealthNet’s Better Indy Babies (BIBs) and Healthy Families (HF) programs help at-risk and young families by offering a support team.  This team includes social workers, registered nurses and community health workers, and they provide prenatal health education, support and linkage to community resources.

• Learn more by visiting HealthNet’s program page, here.
• Or donate to BIBs/HF directly by clicking here.