In April of 2016, Clarity Pregnancy Services began offering our clients the BABY & ME – Tobacco Free Program initiative to help pregnant women quit smoking and remain tobacco free. Housed out of our Columbus pregnancy center, clients throughout the Clarity organization are eligible to enroll in the program to receive counseling support and resources to help them quit smoking.
Throughout their pregnancy, those enrolled will have four prenatal visits. On the third and fourth visit, they can earn a $25 voucher for diapers, and on the fourth visit, a diaper bag filled with a few baby items of their choice. Upon successfully quitting and remaining tobacco free, participants can receive a $25 voucher for free diapers every month for up to 12 months following the birth of their child. If their support person quits as well, they can earn another $25 in vouchers each month.
A year after launching the program, we caught up with the BABY & ME – Tobacco Free Program coordinator and Columbus Center Manager, Lisa Pardue, to hear about the program’s impact.
What feedback did you receive from the BABY & ME – Tobacco Free program participants in the first year?
We heard lots of comments that it was a wonderful program from those who participated. We wish we had more join! One particular client shared after completing the program, “ BABY & ME – Tobacco Free program gave me more motivation to quit and a better support system. The best part of quitting and staying quit is that I am breathing better and my baby is perfectly healthy and full term!”
How is Clarity able to provide this program at no cost?
Anthem is underwriting our program. They provide us with all of the equipment for testing, the diaper bags and gift items, and the vouchers for free diapers.
Why did you begin offering the program in the first place?
Amanda Organist used to be our staff sonographer at our Columbus location. She left Clarity in 2015 to work full time at the Bartholomew County Health Department (although she\ still serves at Clarity now performing the ultrasounds at our Greensburg location). The Health Department offered this program, but weren’t experiencing much success (less than 10 clients went through the program). She felt it would be better to host the program out of a location where pregnant mothers were already regularly going so they would not have an extra barrier of having to find transportation to go to another facility. That’s when she suggested Clarity take on the initiative!
Do you have any data on how effective the program has been so far?
We’ve had a total of 25 clients participate in the program in the last 13 months we’ve offered it at Clarity. We’ve also helped an additional 11 support partners.
How can those interested sign up or find out more information about the program?
Just call us at 812-378-4114 to schedule an appointment Monday-Friday from 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m
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