Charlotte’s Story

Meet Charlotte. When Charlotte enrolled in Healthier Moms and Babies home visiting services, she was pregnant with her second child. Charlotte was having a difficult pregnancy, did not have any support and felt alone. 

Healthier Moms and Babies Family Advocate (FA) began meeting regularly with Charlotte during pregnancy and after birth, allowing Charlotte to have a trusting person to share her concerns with. Charlotte and her FA were able to monitor Charlotte’s blood pressure and provided education on how to track her hypertension. Her FA was able to assist her through her pregnancy both mentally and emotionally. 

This support became even more important when Charlotte’s baby, Azaniyah, was born at 27 weeks. Charlotte had placental complications which were due to intermittent reverse end diastolic flow causing fetal growth restriction and making it hard for the baby get blood and keep his heart rate up. When Azaniyah was born he weighed 1lb 8oz. Charlotte opened to her FA about her concerns with her baby’s size and weight. Her FA was able to provide support to Charlotte while baby Azaniyah was in the NICU and helped to prepare Charlotte for when he came home. FA was able to help support Charlotte as she navigated and began speech therapy, and physical therapy with her baby, providing education on developmental milestones.

Throughout their time together, FA was able to help Charlotte recognize the importance of taking care of herself and the need to focus on her own wellness. FA was able to help connect Charlotte to therapy services. This provided additional support that helped her with her emotional struggles and to set goals for own mental health so she could be the mom she wanted to be for her children.

Charlotte and baby Azaniyah received services from Healthier Moms and Babies over this past year. During this time, Charlotte and her FA worked together and discussed developmental activities, exercises, well baby visits, safe sleep & car seat education, and mental health support. Her FA focused on parent-child interaction and developmentally appropriate activities, taken into consideration Azaniyah’s developmental delays due to being premature. Charlotte was grateful to have the support of her Family Advocate while experiencing new complications during her pregnancy and navigating the unknowns of caring for a premature baby.

Today, Charlotte and her baby are doing great. Azaniyah is a happy and healthy boy. Charlotte is grateful for HMB and her Family Advocate. If she hadn’t enrolled in the program, she would have been scared and alone. Today she is a better version of herself and proud of the mom she has become.