The Fourth Pregnancy

Most of the women who participate in Centering Pregnancy are pregnant for the first time, but a woman we’ll call Juana had three older children ages 14 to 18. She was divorced from her husband. This fourth pregnancy was a surprise. No wonder Juana’s depression screening score was high.

When Lisa Kauffman, our pregnancy care coordinator, invited Juana to attend Centering Pregnancy, Juana declined. She didn’t think she would be able to find the time given her responsibilities at work and at home.

It was a surprise when Juana showed up at the second meeting of the group. At first, she felt out of place in a group of younger women, but Juana soon realized that the other women appreciated her experience and looked to her for guidance and advice. A week later, Juana told the group that she had no support except for the women in the group. Juana told them how grateful she was for that support. She thanked the other women for their love and encouragement.

Juana was the first group member to give birth. She brought her newborn to the next group meeting and told the mothers-to-be about her experience.

After all the women in the group had given birth, they continued to meet as part of Maple City Health Care Center’s Centering Parenting program. In one of the first meetings of Centering Parenting, each group member talked about what she wanted to be sure to pass on to her young child. Juana told the group that her life had missed love. What she wanted to pass on to all of her children was the love that she had felt from her Centering sisters.