MOMS Orange County offers help for moms who need it most

Santa Ana, CA (NV)- Jane Ngo already had a newborn son at home when she learned another child was on the way. Wanting to ensure the healthiest pregnancy possible while juggling expecting a baby and mothering another, she turned to MOMS Orange County.

The nonprofit organization offers classes that range from nutrition to breastfeeding, and even can provide home visits to ensure moms are properly taking care of themselves and their newborns. The classes and services are free and also voluntary, meaning the moms who participate in the program want to be there.

“The best kind of moms are the ones that are willing,” said Pam
Pimentel, a registered nurse who serves as CEO of MOMS Orange County.

And Ngo, 35, jumped right in. The Garden Grove woman received monthly home visits from a MOMS Orange County maternal child health coordinator, who guided her through a healthy pregnancy, giving her second son, Alain, now 20 months old, the best start possible. Now, she takes part in Mommy & Me classes, which she credits for spurring Alain to develop faster than her older son did.

Healthy babies are the goal of MOMS Orange County and of Pimentel, who
has one belief where her work is concerned:  all babies have the right
to be born happy and healthy, no matter who their parents are, what
their parents do or how much they earn.

According to mother Jane Ngo, Alain Ngo Dang (right) has developed faster than her
 older son Alan (left) with the help of classes she took through MOMS Orange County.
 (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)

In fact, each of the 3,000 mothers that MOMS Orange County assists is
considered low income or has some type of identified need. Most of the
expectant mothers who come through the organization are first-time moms,
most of them with a financial or language-based need.

Of the 3,000 or so moms who walk through the doors of MOMS Orange County
each year, roughly 10 percent are of Vietnamese descent. The
organization is trying to increase its outreach to the Vietnamese
community because the need for prenatal care is so high.

MOMS Orange County staff member Annie Nguyen (right) demonstrates learning
 techniques with Alain and Alan Ngo Dang. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)

One of the reasons for that statistic could be that nearly 13 percent of the Vietnamese women seen by the agency’s staff developed gestational diabetes as opposed to 5 percent of its total client list. Or it could be because Vietnamese mothers who sign on for the organization’s programs often are older than the other mothers or work longer into their pregnancies, both of

With the help of a new $75,000 grant for the Vietnamese sector of the
agency’s programming, Pimentel said she hopes to be able to serve more
moms over a longer period of time and help educate them on what they can
do to stay healthy and avoid becoming a statistic

 
MOMS OC helps over 3000 expectant moms each year. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)

The good news is, though, that through proper nutrition and monitoring,
expectant moms can prevent this from contracting gestational diabetes.
Becky Vo, a health coordinator and educator, said it’s important for
moms to be proactive and take advantage of these programs if they
qualify.

“Most moms who get a call from us think we are
soliciting. But we aren’t. We just want to reach out and let them know
these programs are available to them and encourage them to at least give
it a try,” she said.

Moms learn new techniques on how to help make sure their babies are
developmentally on track. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)

While there is a certain distrust and stigma in the Vietnamese community
about accepting aid and being labeled as “low income,” Ngo took no
offense to that.“For low-income families that can’t afford to send their
children to preschool and don’t have access to resources that could
help in their child’s development, this is a golden opportunity that you
would be foolish to pass up based on a label,” she said. “As a parent, I
feel it’s my duty to accept all the help I can get if it means a better
start for my children and helping them be smarter and quicker.”

From left, Alan Ngo Dang, Anthony Dang, Jane Ngo, Alain Ngo Dang, Becky Vo and
 Annie Nguyen are all smiles at MOMS Orange County. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)

To find out more about MOMS Orange County and its offerings, visit www.momsorangecounty.org. To speak to a bilingual maternal child health coordinator/health educator, call (714) 352-3439.

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