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BabySteps helps low-income Boise women

BOISE, IDAHO--Of the 51 drug court referrals to UI Extension’s nutrition program, 38 were women, and 90 percent had children under 12. After using meth throughout her pregnancy, Sarah’s (last name withheld) premature baby died of sudden infant death syndrome. She got high the day  of  the funeral.

She got pregnant again and, after her fourth child tested positive for meth, was sent to drug court, and eventually took at least six hours of classes with Dixie. She now has her children with her, is off drugs, and works at a Boise hotel.

Boise BabySteps program participants
Cheryl McNarie, 29, seven months pregnant
(top),Laurie Simmons, 25 (above), her
infant son hunter (in car seat),
and best friend and support person Chelsea
Loiselle discuss lifestyle changes made since
attending the BabySteps program.

An education/incentive program like BabySteps might have helped Sarah. Taught by UI Extension nutrition advisor Pam Lackey and sponsored by St. Michael’s Episcopal Cathedral, the Boise-area program reached more than 60 low-income pregnant women in 2006. Participants earn points to redeem at a baby boutique for taking prenatal and nutrition classes and making healthy choices, such as quitting smoking.

Laurie Simmons, 25, pictured above, far right, showed up pregnant at one nutrition class with a 24-ounce Big Gulp coke and chips.

“It was a bad day,” she recalled. That lesson involved glass vials showing the amounts of sugar in soda and fat in a Big Mac. Simmons stopped drinking soda and cut down from a pack-and-a-half to 10 cigarettes daily. Now she has a healthy baby boy, Hunter, to whom she reads regularly. She’s stopped unnecessary spending, has money for diapers, and even a rainy-day fund.

“I learned how to budget and cook with more variety,” Simmons said, rocking Hunter in his car seat. “It [BabySteps] taught me how to make better choices  If it weren’t for this program, I’d be pulling my hair out.”

BabySteps is part of EFNEP, which, along with its sister program ENP (Extension Nutrition Program), is federally funded through the U.S. Farm Bill to provide nutrition, budgeting, and life skills training to food stamp recipients and other low-income residents.

Delivered via UI Extension, the two similar programs target slightly different audiences. EFNEP serves families with children and pregnant women in Ada, Bannock, Canyon, and Elmore counties. ENP has 24 nutrition advisors working in 30 counties statewide serving adults, seniors, and others in need. Together they contact approximately 200,000 Idaho residents annually through food stamp offices, job service, WIC, Head Start, and other agencies. EFNEP also serves Idaho’s prison system, drug courts, and military bases.

“Our classes don’t wave a magic wand over their heads and give them a house in the suburbs,” explained Idaho EFNEP director Linda Gossett. “We try to give skills to help them survive.”

Thanks to BabySteps, Cheryl McNarie, 29, plans to try breastfeeding. Adopted at 7 and with a sister for whom breastfeeding didn’t work out, Cheryl had no role models. Now she’s confident and knows there are lactation consultants to help her. It’s also more affordable than formula, and with a combined monthly income under $1,000 ($565 goes to rent),

Cheryl and her husband are always looking to cut costs. McNarie hopes to attend Boise State University next fall to study teaching. “I’ve seen with my own eyes how hard people who don't have money have to struggle when they get pregnant."

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