Tona Miller, one of the councilors at the Bella Vita Pregnancy Resource Center has said that to date, over 35 women have entered classes at the facility.
“I think that they are very interested in our classes,” said Miller. ” We have a program called the ‘Earn While you Learn’ program and what this program does is every class that you come to, prenatal or parenting, you earn what we call baby bucks. With these baby bucks, you can purchase items out of our store. We have clothing, diapers, cribs, walkers, strollers, anything baby related. You also earn the baby bucks for going to your doctor’s visit or WIC appointments. I think most of the girls are very interested in this program because it helps them in a financial way.”
One of the classes is on SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
“We do have a SIDS prevention class. It’s about an hour class and with this class, it shows you what to do to prevent a SIDS death. We also give away a Pack-and-Play, a portable crib, with each class. Plus, they get a little sleep sack and a pacifier as well.”
Tona said that the SIDS class is very important because so little is known about the cause. SIDS is the leading cause of death in newborns to one year of age. Teenage mothers have a higher incidence of SIDS deaths with their babies.
Premature births and mothers smoking also can contribute to SIDS deaths, as can putting the child to bed on its stomach.
A startling fact is that because SIDS deaths are so hard to identify, as many as 5-10% of infants who are killed by a parent, or others, are blamed on the diagnosis. Any girl or woman who would like to avail themselves of the Bella Vita classes, please call 772-2877.
