At-risk moms find 'BFFs' at Notre Dame
In my Very Part-Time Work as a homebound tutor, I have had the opportunity to work with at least five girls who gave birth as high school students and kept their babies. They had varying degrees of family support. I know that there was more going on during some of those tutoring sessions than discussions of Shakespeare, geometry, and history. One young mom in particular would ask me all kinds of questions about baby care, breastfeeding, and her own recovery-from-childbirth process. Every once in a while I run into her. The little baby who spat up all over me while her mom took a test on Othello is now about 9 years old. Her mom and dad eventually married and she has a little brother. I hope that in the weeks I spent tutoring her mom, I helped to make an impact that was more than academic.
If they had one of those 'BFF' programs around here, I'd join. Young women who choose to keep their babies rather than abort them need support that goes beyond those first few weeks.
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