‘You learn a lot about your child’s safety’
Unique program offers vital support for pregnancies and new moms
For 25 years, Tracey Porter has been a resource mother.
“I love it more every day,” Porter says, adding the program helps families learn about healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.
“You can’t have a healthy baby if you don’t have a healthy pregnancy.”
Her involvement far exceeds planning and running programming.
“Before COVID-19 I went into my 25th delivery with moms in the program,” Porter says. “I cut 11 cords. The nurse would pass me the baby and I would put the baby on the mom’s chest.”
Porter is the prenatal program facilitator of the Healthy Baby Club prenatal program and Tender Times postnatal program for babies from birth to one year, run by the Exploits Valley Community Coalition. She works with soon-to-be-moms and new moms from the Exploits Valley with programming in Botwood, Bishop’s Falls and Grand Falls-Windsor.
Healthy Baby Club is a prenatal nutrition and education support program offered through Family Resource Centers to support healthy nutrition through pregnancy and early post-natal, and, in turn, promotes healthy pregnancy and newborns.
“Healthy Baby Club is funded through Health Canada and every year we get a sum of money that we distribute to make sure moms are eating healthy. Their food supplement is three two litres of milk and a large dozen eggs weekly.”
In the past, this also included oranges and orange juice, which Porter says they had to cut out to continue giving milk and eggs since the funding is the same as it was in 1998 when milk was more than half the price it is now.
“One time I could take 28 people, now, finding wise and with the price of everything, I can only take 15,” Porter says.
Registered participants get the supplement from the time they find out they are pregnant until the baby is born and receives three two litres of milk for six weeks after.
She offers Healthy Baby
Club on Mondays in Grand Falls-Windsor, Tuesdays in Bishop’s Falls and Wednesdays in Botwood. On Thursdays, Porter has been offering a new eight-week cooking program for prenatal thanks to a grant for cooking with pregnant moms.
After shopping for ingredients, staff create a directional video and share it before delivering bags of ingredients to the moms.
“At one house the children are waiting because they want to help,” Porter says, adding during the first delivery they did up baskets filled with measuring cups, oven mitts, salt, pepper and other kitchen essentials along with what was needed for the meal.
If families post a picture of their meal their name goes in for a weekly draw. If they do the whole program, they each get a $50 grocery card.
Emily Earle of Bishop’s
Falls has been involved with Healthy Baby Club since she was pregnant with her first son about six years ago, and was part of the program again when she was pregnant with her now two-year-old.
“I wanted to learn more about taking care of a baby,” Earle says, adding it gives her piece of mind. “Everything changes so fast. There are always new rules. Every time I come here, I learn something different.”
Learning how to keep your child safe is key for Earle.
“You learn a lot about your child’s safety from the moment you conceive, right up until birth, and right up until they are in school.”
Her family is also enjoying the cooking program.
“It makes them enjoy cooking and gets them involved which makes cooking a lot easier.”
For Grand Falls-Windsor’s Paige Nichols, it’s her first time having a baby in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“The importance for me is the learning new things like the protocols in Newfoundland,” Nichols says.
It’s also important for her socially as she didn’t know many people in the area. She has an 11-year-old and sixyear-old and they are all learning new things.
Amanda Oram, from
Gambo but living in Grand Falls-Windsor, enjoys the socialization.
“There is no better advice than someone who’s been through it,” Oram says.
The cooking program is a big hit for her 13-year-old son.
“He would do all the prepping and I would just help him through it. It was great family time for me (and) my only boy. With so many girls in the house it’s hard for him to catch a bit of time so him having an interest in cooking, I have been enjoying that for sure. I absolutely loved it when we started it.”