Introduction - Music

:27 seconds Question 1 - How has the Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program helped you and your family?

:32 seconds Sylvia: I think it is really good for me because for my personal case, we are first time parents and we don’t have family around, so this program be there just like a family supporting for me and I’m always have a certainty that they assure for me that there is somebody help available for me.

:53 seconds Amber: to be patient and be there, I was so young, they helped there is a lot actually.

1:02 LaTanya: I think it is motor skills, motor skills, communication skills, how to play with his toys and all the different toys he has.

1:14 Amber: It has helped me learn activities, and it has helped me with nutrition and the development of my child.

1:21 Lynne: It was very helpful after my daughter was born, I felt very isolated, I am a very social person and I felt like I really was missing out on my adult conversation and I had the baby blues a little bit and so it really, really helped me to have a friendly ear to listen to me and be able to talk with another adult during the daytime.

1:49 Amanda: It has taught me to be a better parent and how to really interact with my children and just different activities to play and just how to be a better person all around.

2:00 Question 2 - What activities did the nurse and Family Home Visitor do when they visited you?

2:04 Sylvia: They would come over to first measure the baby check to see if the baby grows on the right track. Secondly, they would ask if there were any problems I encountered and I think the most important one and that most mattered is when I have a lot to say on my chest and have this kind of pressure and a struggling I can have someone to talk to, and somebody can give me even just to listening, and they give me all kinds of suggestions and solutions.

2:36 Amber: Developmental activities, they helped me to learn how to play with him. The tummy times when he was a little baby.

Amber's son: What is tummy time?

Amber: When you were a little baby you used to lie on the floor and cry and cry and cry because you hated it and you would have to lift your neck up. That’s tummy time.

3:00 Kaili: They taught me to do activities that will increase their motor skills and their speech skills. They taught me to do things that would be fun for them and also educational, so, and that would be fun for me and easy for me.

3:18 Nadira: Every month you come, you check Helen and you weigh her and so that makes me feel more comfortable to know that Helen is okay with her weight. Miss Aicha always do lots of activities with Helen and check her and if I have any concern I ask Miss Aicha and she answers my questions I really appreciate that. And if I have any other question regarding Helen or for myself too, you both guys like really help me and provide me with update information.

3:55 Amanda: They’ve played everything from house to practicing with my daughter’s speech and watching movies whatever we were up to they were just came into our house like it was a normal day.

4.:10 Question 3 - How did you learn about the program?

4:14 Amber: I learned about the program through a friend, they gave me the number and I called them.

4:21 Amber: Two days after I came from the hospital I got a phone call for voluntary intake nurses or family home visitors.

4:32 Lynne: I found out about the program because I had an in home visit right after my daughter was born from a nurse, and that was really helpful because I think as a new mom you feel some sort of guilt that you’re not feeling overjoyed and happy about everything and so it is really nice to know that is not abnormal and that you have someone that can understand how you are feeling.

5:02 Nadira: When I have Helen in the hospital the nurse over there told me about this program and I was interested to involve in this program, and then after I had Helen you came by yourselves Martha and you visit me, so that is how I know about your program.

5:23 La Tanya: I learned about the program through my Nurse Practitioner, her name is Julie German.

5:30 Amanda: I found the first letter you ever wrote to me

5:32 Interviewer: oh really?

5:33 Amanda: Oh my god really, Yeah I have my Healthy Babies pouch that I keep everything in.

5:39 Amanda: They called me and came over and brought me everything and I said that would be good, and I’ve been part of the program for three years now, and for Angelo he is almost three and her like she is five months. So I ended up, I don’t know I just like it.

6:00 Question 4 - What did you like best about the program?

6:05 Amber: Well I liked the fact that they came every week. Cause I really needed all the help I could get, I was so young, and that instead of just the nurse and the home visitor, like we became friends.

6:25 Kaili: I can just call them whenever if I’m having a stress full day and they can tell me that I am doing a good job, even when I’m doubting myself. I like that they help me, they’ve helped me a lot with everything. They encourage me to tell me that I can do whatever I want.

6:44 Nadira: Update information I get from you guys is really helpful and like in Iraq we are like a big family so we take care of our neice our nephew but it is not like when you are a real mother. So you have to know the small things and specific things about the child and so the small things that I didn’t know about it really because Helen is my first child, so your program and you both guys helped me really with the small things but it’s really important

7:20 Amanda: I definitely liked best that they became for then a family home visitor and a public health nurse they really become my friend.

7:26 Amanda: You know my favourite thing I think about everything is the developmental screening because that tells me that I am doing a good job and they’ve always been where they are supposed to be and if there was any question to anything I’ve always had information from them as to what to do to make them do what they are supposed to. I love them coming here and saying ok lets see what the kids can do and checking off everything and they were always fine and usually for the next papers and if there was something that they weren’t doing or I thought they weren’t doing like good enough then I always got how I could be up on how to help them.

8:10 Question 5 - Is there anything you would like to say to parents who might be interested in the program?

8:14 Sylvia: Yes, if you are a first time parent and especially, especially, if you don’t have family member around you, you should think about this program this is my sincere suggestion.

8:27 Kaili: I would like to just say that my two nurses Valerie and Karen have done an extremely good job and are very reliable. And if you are thinking about it it’s a good thing to do.

8:37 Lynne: If you need some help then there’s nothing to be ashamed of and if you are feeling kind of sad and isolated then that is normal too, so I would say that it is a great program because you get visits in your home, you don’t need to go anywhere and you get that support that comes to you and there’s not a lot of programs like that out there that I know of.

9:04 Nadira: I really encourage parents to get involved in this program because whatever and how much they know information about their child there is lots of updated information they don’t know about it and even me and when I involved in this program I knew it and that was really helpful for me as a new mother of my first child.

9:32 Amanda: I’d recommend it because, well look at my kids they are smart and I don’t know Sandy and Jane come whenever I want them to. Everything is, it’s perfect, I have all the information that I need and all the help and support not just for my kids, for me as well and anyone that has kids, young or old, having a baby to definitely be a part of the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program because it will change your life.

10:01 Question 6 - Is there anything else you would like to say?

10:05 Kaili: Actually in November I enrolled at St. Clair for the Nursing program and I got in so in September I will b starting as a nursing student to get my RN and then I want to do what Valerie does.

10:21 Interviewer: Have you found it helpful to have Aicha be able to speak to you in Arabic sometimes to explain things when maybe you don’t understand the English?

10:30 Nadira: Yes, it is really helpful, yeah.

10:34 Lynne: That post partum depression is something that is really, really common but nobody wants to talk about it because people think something is wrong with you and that if you just would cheer up and be happier then you could get over it, but that is not the case. So I just wanted to take part in this video taping so that people could be more aware of post partum depression that it’s something that happens to many moms and it doesn’t make you a bad mom it just means that you need a little bit more help with the transition and that’s okay because my kids are big and healthy now and I feel great as with my role as a mom so I just wanted to let other moms know that and other parents know that it is okay to ask for help when you need it.

Conclusion - Music - Thank you to all the families who took part in the video. Music by: www.royaltyfreemusic.com.