Six years ago, Aja was a patient at our Marie Reed Health Center. Pregnant with her second child, she really wanted a natural birth.
After extensive research on the benefits of natural child birth, Aja was pleased to discover that Washington DC’s only free-standing birth center, Community of Hope’s Family Health and Birth Center, also provided such welcoming, comfortable, and holistic care and she immediately felt like a part of the FHBC family.
With the birth of her second son, Quaran, Aja found herself back at FHBC this year to deliver her third child on April 25th. This time Aja was receiving additional support as a part of the National Capital Strong Start program.
Aja has experienced FHBC as both patient and employee. Between the births of her second and third children, Aja worked as a Breast Feeding Peer Counselor with FHBC. She understands the importance of mothers having proper pre-natal education and knowing all of the resources available to them. In this position, she went into the homes of new moms to educate on the benefits of breast-feeding and ensure their success.
This role of educator and advocate did not end once she stopped working at FHBC. Now in the role of patient once again, Aja says, “I try to tell everybody about FHBC because my experience with them has been phenomenal. I am an advocate because I like the natural setting, the autonomy I have, and the level of comfort they provide. I really want more women in the neighborhood to take advantage of this place.”
Aja has enjoyed every aspect of FHBC, from their emphasis on educating moms before their babies arrive, to ensuring that moms are properly connected to the resources they need. “It’s one of the best community resources for moms in the area.”
