Think you're pregnant?

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If you think you might be pregnant or are looking for medical care, please call us at 503-988-5558 to make an appointment at one of our health clinics.

Early Childhood Services is a free program for women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or parenting young children. We offer home visits and childbirth education classes to help you plan a healthy pregnancy and healthy home for your growing child.

Home Visits

If you are like most moms and dads, you have lots of questions about your pregnancy, your baby, and parenting.

When you get services through our home visiting program, a nurse or community health specialist will provide you with education, information, health screenings, and support in your home. They will bring you the latest information about pregnancy, health, child development, and will also connect you to services in your community.

 What happens at a home visit?

A typical home visit will include:

• Opportunities for you to ask questions about pregnancy and parenting
• A chance to talk with a caring advocate about your personal goals and get support reaching those goals
• Making sure you and your baby have good physical and mental health
• Ensuring your family has enough food, a safe home environment, and income to provide for you and your baby’s basic needs
• Screening for family violence and providing resources to make sure you and your baby stay safe from abuse
• Health education to help you learn about your own health and how to care for your infant and young child
• Breastfeeding support
• Referrals to community resources such as WIC and Oregon Health Plan
• Infant screenings for developmental milestones(like vision, hearing, social and motor skills), oral health, developmental delays and overall growth. 

How often will I have home visits?  

You and your home visitor will decide on the number of visits that is right for you. How often you meet with your home visitor will depend on your level of need. Usually, you will meet with your home visitor once a week while they are getting to know you and less often later in pregnancy or if you and your baby are doing well.

How long will I receive services?

Generally women receive services until their child is between 1 and 2-years old. You and your home visitor will talk about a time commitment that feels right to you.

Languages

Our home visiting staff speaks English, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. We will provide free translation services and interpreters for women who are eligible for services and speak languages other than English, Russian, Spanish or Vietnamese.

What are the benefits?

• Reduce stress and worry about pregnancy, birth and parenting
• Have a healthy pregnancy
• Learn how to care for your infant
• Get support while breastfeeding
• Have healthier children
• Get answers to questions about pregnancy, childbirth, infant care, child development, and parenting
• Connect to social and community services and classes

Who can receive services?

You may be able to receive services if you:

• Live in Multnomah County
• Are a pregnant or parenting teen
• Are having your first baby
• Have a medical condition that may affect the health of your baby
• Are having problems breastfeeding
• Have a child with a medical condition or a physical or mental disability
• Have limited social or financial resources that affect your ability to care for yourself during pregnancy or care for your infant or young child

How do I apply?

Call Early Childhood Services at 503-988-3520. Our staff will ask you questions about:

• Your health history and pregnancy
• The health of your infant or child
• Your social and financial resources

We will then tell you if you are able to receive services or help you find other resources if you do not qualify for our services.

Fees

All of our program services are free of charge to clients.

Childbirth Education Classes

The classes are free and open to anyone who wishes to attend and learn more about pregnancy, childbirth and caring for an infant. Classes are available in English and Spanish. Some topics covered include:

• What happens to your body during pregnancy
• How to know when you are in labor
• Breastfeeding
• Postpartum depression
• Ways dads can provide support during birth and labor
• How to care for your new baby
• Community resources for new parents

To sign up for a class, contact the scheduler, Natalya Tarasova at 503-988-5157 x29876.

Healthy Pregnancy

To have a healthy pregnancy it is important that you:

• Find a midwife or doctor and enroll in prenatal care. See what happens at a prenatal visit.
• Know the signs of preterm labor.
• Avoid using tobacco, drinking alcohol, taking illegal drugs or abusing prescription drugs.
• Get lots of rest.
• If you are in a relationship, you are with someone who is loving, supportive and trusting.
• Live in a home free of violence or abuse.
• Eat a well-balanced diet including at least 4-5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables and lean protein every day. Get help planning your diet during pregnancy.
• Get help paying for food during your pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
• Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water every day (low-fat milk and 100% juice are good too).
• Take folic acid. Folic acid is a vitamin that can help prevent birth defects. Take a vitamin with 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid every day, before and during pregnancy.
• Use condoms when having sex with new or multiple sexual partners and get tested for HIV.
• Stay physically active throughout your pregnancy.
• Are able to manage the stress in your life and have friends and family who can help you with tasks like transportation, grocery shopping and childcare.

The Early Childhood Services program can help you have a healthy pregnancy.

Preterm Labor

What is preterm labor?

Preterm labor means that your baby is starting to be born before you have completed 37 weeks of pregnancy. It is important to prevent preterm labor because it can lead to your baby being born too early. Premature babies tend to have more health problems and may need to stay in the hospital for an extended period of time.

Risk factors

Preterm labor happens to many women. We often do not know what causes preterm labor; even moms who do everything right during their pregnancy can have preterm labor. You may be at risk if you:

• Are a African American woman
• Have a medical problem that affects your pregnancy
• Smoke or use alcohol or other drugs during pregnancy
• Have experienced very high levels of stress throughout your life or currently have a stressful home or work life.

Signs of preterm labor

• Contractions that make your belly tighten up like a fist every 10 minutes or more often.
• Change in the color of your vaginal discharge (fluid that leaks from your vagina) or bleeding from your vagina.
• The feeling that your baby is pushing down. This is also known as pelvic pressure.
• Low, dull backache
• Cramps that feel like your menstrual period
• Belly cramps with or without diarrhea

What should I do if I am experiencing preterm labor?

Even if you only have one sign of preterm labor call your health care provider right away.

If you experience any of the signs of preterm labor you should:

• Call your health care provider right away or go directly to the hospital.
• Stop what you are doing and rest lying down on your left side.
• If the signs get worse or don’t go away, call your provider again or go directly to the hospital.

Child Development

What is child development?

Child development are the changes that happen to children between birth and the end of their teenage years. These changes do not include simply getting bigger in size. Development means how your child becomes able to do more complex things as they get older and how they learn and master new skills.

The stages of growth are often called developmental milestones. Developmental milestones are important because they ensure your child is developing in ways that are typical for most children their age.

The developmental milestones are:

• Movement skills such as crawling and walking
• Hand and finger skills
• Hearing and speech
• Vision and language
• Social and emotional skills

Watch a video about developmental milestones.

Why is child development important?

When your child has good learning and social experiences as an infant and young child, they are more likely to reach the developmental milestones, do well in school, avoid drug abuse and other risky behaviors, and have good mental and physical health as teens and adults.  

Early Childhood Services can evaluate your baby’s developmental milestones and support your child’s development.

How can you help your child’s development?

Reading, singing, talking, and playing with your baby are ways you can show your love and help your child feel safe and secure. These feelings of love and security are very important to your child’s development and significantly contribute to your child’s brain development.

Here are more ways you can help your child’s development:

• Make eye contact with your baby. Smile at them while looking into their eyes. 
• Ask your child questions about what they see, hear, feel, and think. Ask your baby questions too! When you ask babies questions, you help them learn to think about the world around them.
• Help them explore their world by playing with them.
• Listen to music together or play a musical instrument for your baby.
• Show your baby pictures in books. Tell them stories about the pictures. Watch these videos on books to read to young children.
• Touch your child lovingly. Hug, cuddle, and kiss them every day.
• Laugh with your child.
• Avoid watching TV with babies and young children; this slows down their brain development.
• Make sure your child has an opportunity to be physically active every day of their lives. Make movement a family activity that you do together every day.

What if my child doesn’t reach a developmental milestone?

Children sometimes reach developmental milestones earlier or later than other kids and this is still within a range of typical development.

Parents are often the first to notice when their child’s development seems delayed or slower than other children’s development. If you think your child has missed a milestone or seems to be losing skills they gained, those are important signs that your child may have a developmental delay.  If you are worried your child may have a developmental delay, you should talk to your health care provider, nurse, or your child’s teacher about planning an evaluation.