Little Keila was born in March and her mother, Margarita Fernando, did not have the essentials to receive her, but a community center provided her with the necessary assistance to get her newborn forward.
“I felt very lucky… happy. I rested, because I had nothing, nothing bought,” explains this mother of three children. Margarita received help at the Tremont Community Help Center in the Bronx.
This space, sponsored by the municipal Health Department, was created for mothers to receive help during and after pregnancy.
Tremont Community Help Center in the Bronx.
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The support center also gives away some baby supplies and teaches classes where they remind you of the steps to follow for the safety of babies at bedtime. And in this case, they gave him a portable chair to fit in vehicles.
“My pregnancy was high risk, I was at home doing nothing and my husband had to stop working to help and take care of the children,” explains Margarita Fernando.
In addition, diapers, baby wipes, blankets, children’s books and games are distributed: “The only thing I had to worry about was getting my baby forward, being calm for her and welcoming her home,” describes this beneficiary.
Beneficiary families.
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The Tremont Health Center also Vuelta with other services such as childbirth education and parenting classes, among others. The goal of the center is to be able to reduce the deaths of Hispanic mothers.
According to the city’s Health Department in 2017, 28% of deaths during or after pregnancy were of Latina mothers, compared to 19% of Caucasian mothers.
Anita Reyes is assistant commissioner of the Department of Health in the Bronx: “We want to make sure that the people who come have families and have resources.”
The help is free for any pregnant woman.
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To receive this aid, mothers only need to prove their pregnancy or that they have a baby under six months. “We want to give help to those who need help. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have documents, your immigration status,” Reyes stresses.
The center is located at 1826 Arthur Avenue, in the Bronx. And he works with schedules from 9 to 5 in the afternoon, from Monday to Friday. For more information you can call 718-508-0662.
Similar centers also operate in Brooklyn and East Harlem, offering the same services. Those interested should visit the page: web nyc.gov/health
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