Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County reports that 44% of PBC Hispanic women do not receive prenatal care in their first trimester. Statistics also show that while more white women are accessing prenatal care early, more Hispanics are not. The rate of low birth weight babies and fetal and infant deaths are also higher in this population.

Hispanic women in the Lantana and Lake Worth areas now have a new place to go to get prenatal care and other services designed to meet their own cultural needs. Centro de Bienestar Familiar provides free maternal services to women and their families in those communities.
Four types of activities take place at Centro:

• CenteringPregnancy®
• Parenting Classes
• Teen Parent Support Groups
• Fatherhood Programs

CenteringPregnancy® is an exciting way for women and their families to get prenatal care. Women spend more time with their health care provider and with other pregnant women, which gives them a chance to learn a lot more about pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. Check-ups, support, and education all take place in a group setting. Women are in a group with several other pregnant women whose due dates are close to theirs. In each of the ten sessions, they have a private time with their health care provider and some refreshments. Then they meet as a group to discuss questions, concerns, and solutions.

Parenting Classes
Two weeks after delivery, moms return to the Centro for a Parenting Course. Dads are welcomed! Parenting education classes are also open to the general public.

Teen Parent Support Groups
Educators who were Hispanic teen parents themselves facilitate support groups for teens that are going through this difficult and stressful role. Parenting skills, family planning and male responsibility among others, are issues that are discussed during their meetings.

The Centro de Bienestar Familiar also provides a Fatherhood Program for Hispanic men. The program encourages father-child interaction and father’s involvement in their child’s development.