Baby Boot Camp

For most first time mothers, the prospect of caring for a newborn produces serious apprehension. For unwed teenage mothers, that sense of anxiety is multiplied exponentially.

The organization developed an innovative program called Baby Boot Camp. Young mothers are invited to attend a 5-hour seminar at a church or pregnancy center to learn the fundamentals of baby care. Their three-tiered approach helps apprehensive young women become better prepared for impending motherhood.

The first component of the program is baby basics. Under the tutelage of a professional nurse, students use lifelike baby dolls to learn how to hold, feed, burp, bathe and diaper their own babies. Most of the participants have no idea how to take care of an infant. At one recent class, a 16-year-old mother came with her two week old baby and her mother. As a nurse was teaching the fundamentals of giving a bath, the teenager spoke up, "I just hold my baby. I don’t give my baby a bath… I don’t even feed my baby. I’m too afraid of it." For the first two weeks of her child’s life, the grandmother had been providing all of the baby’s care.

"I always tell the girls, 'This is not your mom’s baby, it’s not your auntie’s baby, it’s not your grandma’s baby, this is your baby.'” says nurse volunteer Benita Decker. “This baby is a gift, and no matter how the circumstances came about, you now have a huge responsibility with God to raise your child." After the class was over that day, the new mother went home and gave her baby a bath for the first time and began the all-important process of bonding with her child.

Program coordinators recommend the baby basics portion of the program be taught by a nurse. "Questions come up all the time," says Decker. "We don’t talk about birth control, but if they come to us and say ‘what do you think about the pill?’ a healthcare professional needs to be there so they can answer those questions."

The second component of the program focuses on wellness. "We teach them that in order for them to be totally well, they have to be mentally well, spiritually well, and they have to be physically well. In order to take care of themselves and their babies, they have to be happy in life," says Childers.

The goal of the boot camp is to not only share tips on baby care and wellness, but to share the love of Christ as well. As part of the program, all attendees receive a copy of Rick Warren’s best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life. Counselors share how God has a purpose for the mothers and their babies and encourage them to get involved in their local churches.

At the end of the day the new mothers get a big surprise… a baby shower! Each of the girls is sent home with a laundry basket overflowing with donated baby supplies. The baskets are so heavy that the girls need help carrying them out. Sometimes larger items like car seats and baby bath tubs are even donated and given away as door prizes.

The Baby Boot Camp program has been a wild success. To date the KyBNF has held a dozen camps and reached more than 100 girls and their families. The KyBNF has just written a “How To” guide, because several other state organizations are interested in adopting their ministry.

The most important measure of a ministry’s success, however, is evidenced by the lives they have touched. When 17-year-old Keisha showed up at the pregnancy crisis center in Princeton, Kentucky, she was determined to have an abortion. Estranged from her family and living on her own, she had no interest in bringing a child into the world.

Counselors at the center invited Keisha to attend a Baby Boot Camp with her mother and then make a decision about whether to terminate the pregnancy. The young woman didn’t want to talk to her mother, but she gave the center her mom’s name and gave them permission to call her.

Surprisingly, they both attended the workshop the following Saturday. At its conclusion, Keisha walked over to the counselors and said, “I want my baby.” Because of Baby Boot Camp, she not only had her baby, but she reconciled with her mother.

“God has a future planned for everybody,” says Aimee Bracken, pastor’s wife at First Baptist Church in McDowell, Kentucky. "We need to be ready and willing to help someone in time of need… and who is more in need than a young girl that finds out at 14 that she’s pregnant? Though we may take the wrong road at one time or another, God is always willing to redirect us to the path He wants us to follow."

CALLED Her Anointing Editor, Amy Hammond Hagberg, is an author, radio host, wife, and mother of two teenagers. Her books include the How Do You Know He's Real? inspirational book series which features the spiritual journeys of well-known athletes, recording artists, and actors. Amy's award-winning work has been featured in numerous publications including HomeLife, ParentLife, Collegiate, Christian Woman, Alive!, Living With Teenagers,, Christian Singles, Relevant, Radiant, Ignite Your Faith, Sports Spectrum, DisciplesWorld, Savvy Miss, Listen, The Lookout, Living Light News and many others.

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