For pregnant women in need and their families
Pregnant women who live in poverty are at serious risk of giving birth to low birthweight babies (10-12% according to research). Furthermore, birth weight is a known indicator for both short and long term health. In order to reduce by half the number of insufficient birthweight babies born to pregnant women at risk, the Dispensary uses a method of perinatal nutritional support developed in the 1950s, the “Higgins Method”©. This method, known for its effectiveness, inspires even today national and international perinatal nutrition programmes.
The essence of the “Higgins Method”© is that in order for impoverished pregnant women to eat the foods her baby requires to be born in good health, she must understand, and endorse, her role as a mother from the very beginning of her pregnancy, have access to nutritional food and have support to help lower the impediments to improving her health. A husband who endorses his role as father and supports his wife also plays a decisive role in pregnancy.
To learn more about the previous results of the “Higgins Method”©, read the following: Nutritional Status and the Outcome of Pregnancy (1976), Impact of the Higgins Nutrition Intervention Program on birth weight: A within-mother analysis (1989), Impact of the Higgins Nutrition Intervention Program on birth weight: A within-mother analysis (1989) and Ability of the Higgins Nutrition Intervention Program to improve adolescent pregnancy outcome (1997).
The Dispensary offers women and their husbands a personalized service, an openness to their culture, and a place where they can find a spirit of community, as well as acquire new skills and knowledge.