About Us
Mission Statement
Our mission is to be the bridge between the community, the church, and health care through maternal health support, advocacy, and empowerment.
Foundation Goals
Our foundation works toward accomplishing our mission through focusing on 4 primary goals: decreasing maternal mortality, decreasing infant mortality, support for maternal mental health, and increasing breastfeeding initiation and longevity.
1. Maternal Mortality
The US has been reported as having one of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed countries. In addition to this the USA has a large disparity where women of color are at a significantly higher risk of maternal death. To address our maternal mortality disparity, Hills and Valleys Wellness will provide a doula and health educator to each mother in our program. Our doulas and health educators will all have extensive knowledge on providing culturally competent care and will incorporate each client's faith in their care plan. The doula will be present for prenatal support, labor and birth support, 12 months of postpartum support. In addition to this, mothers will participate in monthly health education and wellness classes. With a doula and a community health educator in the prenatal period, women are provided with additional education that can help them to be more aware of risk factors that can lead to issues such as preeclampsia or hemorrhage, 2 major causes of maternal mortality. Evidence from a study on doula support in Greensboro, NC has shown that the presence of a doula in birth decreases the percentage of births with mother/baby complications from 19.5 to 10.3. Many women cannot afford to have a doula during pregnancy or birth, so with donated funds, we are able to provide doula services to women who need it for little to no cost.
2. Infant Mortality
Safe sleep measures have been proven to make a large change in the outcomes of infant deaths. For women who are in our program, they will have health educator support monthly in pregnancy and in the postpartum period. Some of the health education classes that are offered include safe sleep, breastfeeding basics, infant first aid and safety, car seat safety, and child nutrition. Our goal is to empower mothers with knowledge so they can be partners in decreasing infant mortality.
3. Maternal Mental Health Support
Maternal mental health is an issue that has been overlooked for too long, it stops here. Research supports that many mothers who experience postpartum depression, initially experienced perinatal depression. We start our maternal health support early in the second trimester of pregnancy with monthly mental health support groups that continue until 12 months postpartum. We know that we cannot end postpartum depression, but we can educate and prepare moms for what may come. Everyone benefits from this group, even if they do not experience any mental health conditions through the collective sharing of experiences and support.
4. Breastfeeding Initiation
In the world, among all counties, the US has the second lowest breastfeeding initiation rate. Access to lactation support is a commonly reported reason for not breastfeeding. Hills and Valleys Wellness changes the approach of postpartum support, ensuring that mothers have support from the first latch to their child's first birthday.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for 6 months, WHO recommends breastfeeding for 2 years. To help support breastfeeding longevity we will provide breastfeeding support for mothers from birth to 12 months postpartum including our unique "return to work breastfeeding support".