Young mothers react to soothing voice, guiding hand

by Cindy A. Abole, Public Relations

As a woman gives birth, she’s able to bear the emotional contrasts of anxiety, physical pain and joy through a constant support system of husband, family and friends. It is a sharp comparison to the lonesome, scared and worried feelings of a teenage mother facing childbirth alone.

A group of caring, young women, not much older than these pregnant teens, want to change this for expectant teenage mothers living within the Charleston area. The women are part of a group of student volunteers who offer their time and learned medical skills necessary to provide care to others.

Since 1993, MUSC Gives Back students have volunteered and assisted young, single mothers as labor coaches, exercise instructors, craft assistants, recreational and cultural activity assistants, mentors and tutors at the Florence Crittenton Home. These volunteers represent a broad spectrum of the university’s health profession specialties including nursing, medicine, physical and occupational therapies, pharmacy and graduate studies.

MUSC Gives Back is an organized volunteer program which provides assistance through student support to more than 140 social service agencies and organizations located throughout the Tri-county area.

“The Florence Crittenton Programs (FCP) is one of our most popular volunteer health programs,” said Liz Sheridan, MUSC Gives Back director. “It supports a successful ‘gives back’ support program geared specifically for women.”

Third semester nursing student Melissa Hulsey was drawn to becoming a Florence Crittenton Home volunteer following her rotation with labor and delivery. Growing up as an only child and having no children of her own, Hulsey wanted to learn more about the total birth experience.

Hulsey, who is from Charleston, hopes to complete the college’s nurse-midwifery master's program. Hulsey was among eight fellow MUSC nursing, medical, occupational therapy and pharmacy students who recently met in the parlor of the Florence Crittenton Home to complete labor coach training sessions. The students finally met the 13 teenage girls they may be assisting, all residents of the home and pregnant.

“Our volunteers from MUSC are great and especially sensitive to our residents,” said Sandra Fowler, home lifeskills director. “Our greatest support is through the MUSC Gives Back program. Because we have a small staff, we need time to reach out and find ways to promote ourselves in the community. It’s a big help just getting the word out and receiving a response.” The history of the Florence Crittenton Home began in 1897. It was created in response to a Charleston newspaper article about a young woman’s suicide attempt relating to an unwed pregnancy. In the 1920s after years of renting several homes, plans for creating a haven on St. Margaret Street, which coincidentally is named for St. Margaret of Antioch, patron saint of childbirth, was put into motion by community volunteers.

The Great Depression of 1924 delayed the home’s completion until the 1930s.

In past years, Florence Crittenton Home Programs of South Carolina are run like a turn-key operation.The staff consists of five masters-level social workers, a nurse educator and various volunteer tutors from the community. For the guests, the facility operates on a point-reward system. As newcomers arrive, they are introduced into a dorm-style setting where they learn to bond with “old timers” and can gradually move into private rooms towards the end of their stay. Residents earn points for attending school classes, Lamaze labor and delivery classes, completing chores, etc. Collected points are redeemed to buy gifts or purchase items like clothing and baby items.

“Most newcomers come to us experiencing a variety of feelings,” Fowler said. “Mostly they’re angry, confused and frightened. We try to guide them by balancing their focus on learning parenting skills, their studies and giving them time to reflect.”

Other Florence Crittenton programs have benefitted thousands of single mothers over the years. The new FCP development program, located on the former Charleston Naval Base, allows single mothers and their families to live independently throughout a short-term stay. Managed by the College of Charleston’s School of Education, the program accommodates families for up to two years while a parent enhances life skills training taught at parenting classes, career development and household management sessions.

Third-year medical student Lori Schmoll has devoted 650-plus of her MUSC Gives Back volunteer hours to the Florence Crittenton Home since 1996. From the beginning, she was impressed with the program and how she could apply real-life experiences towards her chosen Ob/Gyn specialty.

“I knew it was a good volunteer activity,” said Schmoll, a Charleston native. “Sometimes, these girls have no one for reassurance and encouragement. They just want to know what to expect during the birthing process.”

Fowler supported these comments by citing studies which promote the positive effects of using doulas, trained childbirth assistants, who provide emotional support and physical comfort for the mother during labor and delivery. This nurturing a mother receives during the birth experience, can impact greatly on the quality of early bonding she and her new infant experience.

“Nursing and medical students see this as a link in their training,” Fowler said. “It sensitizes them to the needs of their patients, early on. Students perform a real service for us as advocates and friends to the girls. Our girls look to them for support. Whether they realize it or not, they ultimatly make an important impact on the welfare of both the mother and infant.”