Culminating Project Results in Grant A $35,000 grant was recently awarded to the Moms2B program by the Columbus Medical Association Foundation as a result of a culminating project completed by Masters of Public Health student, Anne Taylor, MD. Taylor’s interest in working with Moms2B, an organization focused on serving expectant mothers in high-risk communities, began when Dr. Patricia Gabbe, founder of Moms2B, spoke to one of her classes about Ohio’s high infant mortality rate and the newly-established Moms2B program. “Dr. Pat touched my heart and inspired me to get involved with the organization,” said Taylor. “My children and I began picking up food donated by the MidOhio Food Bank and packing it up for the moms and their families.” When the time came for Taylor to do her culminating project, she asked Gabbe and other program leaders what she could do to help. Brandy Warne, a mental health social worker at Moms2B indicated that moms in the program still struggle with their emotional health and wellbeing.
Mental health has long been overlooked as a factor in overall wellness of a pregnant woman... “While we provided weekly mental health education and support, we still had moms requesting additional support, but only 20 percent would follow through with individual counseling with outside agencies,” said Warne. “A lot of the moms reported feeling uncomfortable with counselors because of bad prior experiences or feeling that they couldn’t trust another agency like they trusted Moms2B.” 12
As a result, Taylor wrote a grant for her culminating project to provide focused, individual counseling and group therapy for the mothers with the hope of reducing their levels of anger and anxiety in order to improve their overall health and pregnancy. Following the counseling provided by Moms2B, they will then be referred to longer term assistance focused specifically on their individual stressors.
“Mental health has long been overlooked as a factor in overall wellness of a pregnant woman, and only recently has it obtained some recognition of the important role it plays in both maternal and fetal health,” said Taylor. By providing counseling resources, mothers are more likely to experience a healthy pregnancy and full term delivery of a healthy child.