MOMSFIRST

MomsFirst provides education, resources, and supportive services to pregnant and parenting teenage mothers throughout the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, prisons, and shelters. 

The MomsFirst program at May Dugan Center works to break down barriers to healthy pregnancy and infancy. MomsFirst staff provides outreach, case management, health education, and depression screenings to teenage mothers through a unique partnership with the City of Cleveland Department of Public Health, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, and Charter Schools within the City of Cleveland. MomsFirst also works with incarcerated, recently released, homeless, and unstably housed pregnant/parenting adult women.

MomsFirst recognizes the challenges teens face as well as the additional stressors that may pose challenging for pregnant and parenting teens, and offers education and support to the entire student body in the form of Peer Advisory sessions and Teen Summits.  The Peer Advisory sessions occur four times per school year at eight CMSD and one Charter school schools all students are welcome, including males and non-pregnant/parenting students to engage in educational and thought provoking discussions about the following topics: Safe Sleep / SIDS, HIV/STI’s Prevention / Family Planning, Smoking Cessation / Substance Abuse, Preterm Labor / Perinatal Depression, Breastfeeding, Infant/Child development, Self-Esteem, Healthy Relationships, Close Interval Pregnancies, Future Goals and School Attendance.  The MomsFirst Adolescent Component is included with the Annual Youth Summit and Back to School Fair which is held once a year.

Angela Gober-Woodson, MomsFirst Supervisor

Pamela Bell, LSW, Community Health Worker 
Crystal Calhoun, Community Health Worker
Latisha Walker, Community Health Worker

Every year, the MomsFirst Program makes a substantial impact in the lives of the mothers it sees. Last year the program:

• 95 number of pregnant and parenting teens served

• 227 Students participated in peer advisory programming

• 23 Outreach & education events held

• 69 Healthy babies born to MomsFirst participants in 2022