Expecting mothers don’t have to go through pregnancy and child-rearing alone through Healthy MOMS.
Since 2018, Healthy Maternal Opiate Medical Support (Healthy MOMS), has served pregnant women and new mothers with substance use disorders. Last month, they announced their expansion into Pike County through a $60,000 grant. That grant came from the county’s Children and Youth Services Department, and will be used to open a WIC clinic and other services.
Healthy MOMS’s supervisor, Maria Kolcharno, described the challenges of caring for a newborn baby while struggling with addiction. She is the director of addiction services at the Wright Center for Community Health – their parent organization.
“They may have their first apartment they ever had. They may be first time living alone as a new mother – teaching them how to bathe a child, Michelle [Coyle] does that a lot. That first bath can be very scary,” said Kolcharno.
Coyle is a Healthy MOMS case manager and doula. WVIA News spoke to Coyle and Kolcharno at their Scranton office.
“Even the first night at home – all of those things are so scary,” said Coyle. “Especially too, because a lot of our mothers, they don’t have the family support, y’know?”
Coyle explained how her clients often are isolated, having lost any family or community support through their addiction. Women living in rural areas like Pike County are more vulnerable.
“A lot of them don’t have transportation. And at least down here, we have Uber, we have the busing system,” said Coyle. “Up there, they don’t have any of that.”
Healthy MOMS gives out gas cards so clients can ask a neighbor to drive them to doctor’s appointments, grocery stores. They often work with homeless clients, putting them in hotel rooms until they can find suitable housing. Kolcharno partnered with United Neighborhood Centers of Pennsylvania (UNC) to better serve her rural families. UNC is a nonprofit that works with low-income families to help them attain financial security.
“It wasn’t my understanding of how to find a house,” said Kolcharno. “But if I can’t, can you imagine what the stressors are on a new person who’s trying not to use chemicals and has a new baby?”
Besides lacking affordable housing, Pike County does not have its own hospital. Residents have to travel to Wayne Memorial Hospital or Moses Taylor Hospital for emergency or surgical care. Healthy MOMS often has to send their clients to their office in Hawley if something needs to be done at a clinic.
However, traveling long distances for medical care is especially difficult for mothers with newborns. Coyle makes a lot of home visits. She talked about a client that would otherwise have given birth alone. The father was incarcerated at the time.
“I was there the whole time,” said Coyle. “Holding her legs, helping her push. Y’know, like, and that’s where my piece comes in. And that’s one of the reasons that I did become a doula. Because a lot of these moms don’t have that. They don’t have that family support. And if I could be that family support and be there and know that they’re not alone in this. Like, I tell them, ‘I’m going to walk this journey with you.’”
Coyle said she often becomes her clients’ main source of support.
“And just, you develop this bond with these women. And they come to trust you. Y’know, I get calls in the middle of the night, ‘Michelle, the baby has a fever, ’” said Coyle. “Because, they don’t have their mom, they don’t have their sisters or a grandma, or somebody they could reach out, ‘What do I do?’ And that’s when you, y’know, I kind of step into that role and walk them through it.”
Kolcharno explained how difficult it is for mothers to trust a care worker to advise them through addiction and child care. Some mothers and caregivers have struggled with their county’s Children and Youth Services Department (CYS). Their older children may have been taken away for their safety. However, she hopes families will see their local CYS and other support agencies as a resource for becoming better caregivers.
“Because we’re all trying to do the best for this family, so we always present it that way. And educating the mothers, ‘If something happens, you need to come tell me immediately. And that can avoid maybe a ChildLine, but then we contact CYS.’ The mother knows that process,” said Kolcharno. “We’ve had mothers actually call ChildLines in on themselves. Because they wanted the help, and they know that these people do help us.”
ChildLines are used to report suspected child abuse. Anyone can report suspected abuse at 1-800-932-0313. The county’s CYS investigates the report.
Through connecting mothers and caregivers to resources like housing, transportation, and healthcare, Kolcharno said her clients reach sobriety and independence.
“It’s not about enabling over time. We have mothers right now who are finishing their GEDs. So, they can get a job that is substantial and not making $12 an hour and trying to pay for things. We have two or three mothers that have started college courses. And they’re working. They might be working at a Subway or a restaurant, but they know that things are going to look up,” said Kolcharno.
For more information about HealthyMOMS, go to their website: https://www.healthymoms.org/. They also work with fathers, grandparents, and other caregivers.
