While the overturning of Roe v. Wade is a cause for celebration among pro-lifers (while still realizing the work is just beginning), one group of pregnant women and their preborn children remain perilously abortion-vulnerable across the country. But there is a way to help them.
Be Not Afraid (BNA), previously profiled here and here, is a North Carolina-based, 100% pro-life “case management support service providing parent-centered care and peer support to moms and dads carrying to term following a prenatal diagnosis.”
The Prenatal Diagnosis Exception
Even in states where abortion is now largely banned, exceptions for life-limiting or life-altering prenatal diagnoses are common, and the abortion rates of these children remain alarmingly high. Requests for BNA’s help have skyrocketed all over the United States. Now, BNA is exporting its model of care to “ensure that parents experiencing a prenatal diagnosis find comprehensive case management support in the state in which they live,” and it’s counting on pregnancy resource centers, religious organizations, healthcare professionals, and caring individuals across the country to help them accomplish this goal.
Pregnancy Help Centers can Stand in the Gap
Anne Tretinyak, Executive Director of Vida Medical Clinic and Support Services in Wisconsin, believes that prenatal diagnosis support for families is a necessary and natural extension of the incredible work pregnancy help centers do every day. She shared her personal testimony of receiving a frightening prenatal diagnosis as a young newlywed.
“My husband and I experienced the unexpected blessing of pregnancy just three short months after getting married. We were both in graduate school at the time and a little overwhelmed by our good news. I experienced bleeding about 10 weeks into my pregnancy and was diagnosed with a large tear in my placenta. I was told the tear was so significant that my baby would not survive. Abortion was recommended. Long story short, at the 20 week ultrasound the tear couldn’t be found, and I delivered a full-term, healthy 10.5 pound baby boy.”
When Heartbeat International approached her about the possibility of expanding their ministry to include prenatal diagnosis support, Tretinyak leaped at the opportunity.
She observed, “Centers like Vida offer [prenatal diagnosis] support to our patients but do not market support services to the community at large. This needs to change.” With the support of its Board of Directors, Vida stands ready to embrace “a new expanded vision of our ministry that encompasses support, mentoring and advocacy for women experiencing an adverse diagnosis or challenging pregnancy,” in addition to its historic outreach of “support and mentoring for women who have experienced the loss of a pre-born child (through abortion, miscarriage or still birth) or infant.”
READ: Studies: Abortion after a prenatal diagnosis leads to emotional trauma
A Model already Exists that PHCs Can Adopt
Tracy Winsor, BNA Parent Program Director, told Live Action News that with funding from the Knights of Columbus and The Lynch Foundation, BNA has developed a Parent Care Coordinator (PCC) training program. So far, 15 individuals from several Catholic dioceses as well as multiple pregnancy resource centers, including Vida, have attended a training day in North Carolina or Pennsylvania, and two more training days are planned this fall in Colorado and Texas. Participants have included a retired OB/GYN, four Registered Nurses, an ultrasound tech, a Catholic Charities social worker, and several employees of Catholic dioceses.
Training topics include “An Introduction to Case Management, Pastoral Care, Trauma-Informed Care, Working with the Medical Community and in Hospital Settings , Prenatal and Newborn Testing,” and “Planning for Birth and Beyond.” Feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive.
Training participants receive extensive training to be successful in the PCC role. In addition to the in-person training day requirement, each goes through nearly 30 recorded modules online related to the topics mentioned above.
Feedback from Training Participants
One participant commented, “Seeing the impact BNA has had on actual families was the best thing… It was beautiful to see the love, compassion, support and friendship that was given to families in their greatest crisis.”
Another observed:
It is hard to pick out the best thing. The whole design of the training was outstanding in its multi-dimensional approach to care. Learning about trauma-informed care from a scientific perspective was fantastic. Having the opportunity to apply it to the cases presented was very helpful.
BNA’s training filled trainees with hope for what’s possible, as the following feedback shows:
Meeting people who care so much about children and parents, and are committed to their care was the best thing! Both the fellow PCC trainees and the BNA team. And developing an understanding of how to best serve the parents. The stories shared by the team, the real-life examples, hearing the parents’ stories–the entire day renewed my heart and commitment to prolife work.
Dr. Elizabeth Nelson, MD, reflected:
This training provided an excellent perspective including trauma-informed care with the diagnosis and providing continuing support and advocacy throughout the pregnancy. Carrying a pregnancy with a life-limiting diagnosis is ultimately better for the mother’s health. Additional materials were provided to be read after the in-person training. This training is the beginning of the journey!
Tretinyak of Vida shared, “We feel blessed to participate in this training and are excited about the possibility of being fully equipped and supported by a national organization to love and serve these families well!”
National collaboration
BNA has partnered with Heartbeat International, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, Her Plan, the National Catholic Bioethics Center, the American Association of Pro-life OBGYNS, the American College of Pediatricians, String of Pearls, and Sidewalk Advocates for Life to raise awareness about the new PCC program. Heartbeat International, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, and HerPlan will assist with making patient/family referrals to local Parent Care Coordinators. These collaborations with national organizations will help funnel families in need to PCCs.
Many more PCCs are needed to serve families for the duration, starting after they receive an emotionally overwhelming diagnosis and continuing as they learn a whole new medical vocabulary to understand the prognosis, and then through birth and whatever follows. In many cases, Winsor noted that the PCCs will make referrals to supportive healthcare professionals, but she stressed that even if a family continues under the care of an unsupportive doctor, etc., “the service can be a success,” since “trauma-informed care is really about the connection and relationship between the parents and the PCC.” Winsor gave the examples of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia as states where organizations willing to develop a PCC service are still very much needed.
Call to Action
If you’re currently affiliated with a pregnancy care center or religious organization, contact Be Not Afraid about sending a representative to a Parent Care Coordinator training day. If you’re a healthcare professional, reach out to them to serve as a local provider. Medical professional-specific training is planned for 2023. And if you’re a concerned pro-lifer, ensure that your local pregnancy center or church knows about this new PCC program.
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