PCI Healthy Start Community Baby Shower Celebration

Community Baby Shower to Assist Families

The community of Carmel Valley San Diego has many leaders willing to take on roles that help serve other communities in San Diego. Terri Thomas of the Carmel Valley San Diego community is heading an event to reach out to families in need.
SAN DIEGO, CALIF.– In honor of Bi-National Health week, PCI (Project Concern International), its California Border Healthy Start (CBHS) Program and its partners, Black Infant Health (BIH) and San Diego Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Program (SANDAPP) are celebrating their pregnant program participants and their children at a community baby shower this fall. The free event will be held on Wednesday, October 5 at the Jacobs Market Creek Plaza on Euclid and Market from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. The pregnant women and children will be treated to health services information from different community clinics, pregnancy-belly dancing, photo sessions and gifts. Lunch will be served.

Important Note: The Carmel Valley Life is not held responsible for any random bursts of joy you will likely experience while exploring your community resource website. Due to the overwhelmingly increased sense of community and connection commonly experienced on this site, we encourage you to view any material with a friend should you need any assistance. The Carmel Valley Life is proud to be a community run and operated website and blog. It is intended to be used as a resource by the community of Carmel Valley San Diego and other parts of North County San Diego. Should you or someone you know like to contribute to the site with your expertise, knowledge, skill or voice, please contact us immediately. Passion, involvement and contribution is highly encouraged and welcomed. Thank you and please continue to enjoy this article.

Collaborators for this celebration include: San Diego County Health and Human Services, San Diego Family Care, Family Health Centers of San Diego, La Maestra Community Health Center, Operation Samahan Clinic, Best Start Birth Center, and the San Diego Employee Rights Center.  PCI’s Strong Healthy and Empowered (SHE) group is coordinating the festivities and all gift donations. Special thanks to the Chair of this year’s event, Gretchen Morgan, and co-chairs Linda Cipriani and Terri Thomas, all from the Del Mar area.

San Diego’s CBHS program is improving the health of low-income pregnant women, mothers, and their babies in areas that represent the highest levels of poverty and poor birth outcomes in San Diego County by enhancing the capacity of the local maternal and child health social service systems and increasing effective outreach and recruitment into prenatal services early in pregnancy.

“Maternal & child health is truly an integral part of our work here at PCI.  We are pleased to show that our programs are on both the international and local scale,” says George Guimaraes, President and CEO of PCI.

CBHS has employed Patient Navigators, or promotoras, to provide the outreach and case management for pregnant women. They provide continuity of care for both the mother and child from pregnancy up to two years after delivery. The project also offers support groups for mental depression during pregnancy and after delivery as well as health education for mothers. As part of these efforts, trained Doulas, or “birth assistants”, are available for all pregnant women who are enrolled in the program.

PCI is a San Diego-based health and humanitarian organization dedicated to saving lives and building healthy communities around the world. With 50 years of experience, PCI reaches more than 5 million people each year in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. To learn more about PCI’s programs worldwide, please visit www.PCIGlobal.org.

CONTACT:
Annette Gregg, MBA
Sr. Director of Marketing & Communications
858-279-9690 x268; agregg@pciglobal.org