Houston Birthing Connection

Houston Birthing Connection (HBC)

is a non profit organization that provides support and educational empowerment to teen parents during pregnancy through childbirth. Houston Birthing Connection has been in existence since 2006, offering education and support to pregnant and parenting teens through a community based program in Harris county and surrounding areas. Each year, the program serves approximately 15 pregnant teens, and 40 teen mothers. Student population who are white (5 percent), African-American (90 percent), and Hispanic (5 percent) ages range between 12 to 19 years old. The program is a teen parenting program assuring that pregnant and parenting students receive the support in areas of prenatal education through labor and delivery that will be needed to have a healthy delivery and return back to school through graduation to contribute to the school district's efforts on reducing the incidence of teen pregnancy. We are committed to collaboration with others in the community and church-initiated efforts for needs assessment, program planning and service delivery.

Our Mission Statement

To empower teenage parents by providing information, resources, parenting education, academic guidance, and emotional support to pregnant and/or parenting teens in order to inspire all students to reach their individual potential and become contributing members of a diverse community.

Vision

To empower teen parents to reach their full potential by providing help and creating hope.

Major Goal

The major goal of this program is to increase the likelihood that pregnant or parenting teens will successfully graduate from high school. There is hope after unplanned pregnancies we encourage young parents to still pursue their dreams of college and obtaining a good job. The early months after a baby is born are critical and the mother has to be there around the clock. During this time the need for education is still a priority for a teenager, and we help them stay on track by providing child birthing educational support. The program thereby strives to increase the proportion of teens that graduate from high school or receive a GED, find jobs, and ultimately achieve self-sufficiency.

These longer-term goals are important because, even though teen parents make up fewer than 10 percent of all Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) case heads, families started by women who first gave birth as teenagers account for approximately 50 percent of all long-term AFDC recipients. The teen parent coordinators are committed to the belief that support and care of a new mothers and their baby during the early prenatal and postpartum weeks has long-term beneficial effects on the mother's physical and mental health and on her confidence and competence as a parent.

By supporting the new mother at this critical time will strengthen the teenage mother to pursue all their goals in life. In addition we offer practical, educational, and emotional support for the teenage mothers.

Our services commonly include, but are not limited to, mother's care, companionship, breastfeeding support, and infant care guidance. Labor and Delivery support with breastfeeding, infant calming and infant care; infant massage instruction; sibling care; suggestions for healing and recovery; and referrals to local resources, Para professional experience and training around bonding, infant development, attachment, family adjustment, and postpartum depression and promoting the childbearing experience as a normal, natural, healthy process that profoundly affects teenage parents.

Only through personal relationships can a sense of individual responsibility be reestablished that will give teenage mothers the commitment to follow through on path to adulthood with a sense of pride and accomplishment. We are successful in helping put their lives back together.

To accomplish this goal, the teenage mothers must be in communication with a teen parent coordinator that promotes their best effort and reinforces personal respect. Houston Birthing Connection is a program that is in direct response to the growing number of young teenage parents that are falling through the cracks.