Children's Colorado CAMP Program Helps Young Mothers Build a Bright Future

Children's Hospital Colorado's CAMP (Colorado Adolescent Maternity Program) Program is helping young mothers see pregnancy as more than a medical event. The program digs deeper and looks at not only prenatal and postnatal treatment, but also the social and emotional needs of young mothers and their families.

Every CAMP patient sees a doctor, nurse or midwife, a caseworker, a nutritionist and a social worker, and in many cases, a psychologist. They see that team during pregnancy and for at least a year after delivery. After the baby is born, mother and child move to the second phase of CAMP, which involves parent education classes, transitional housing, social services and counseling in the use of birth control.

Learn more about the Colorado Adolescent Maternity Program at Children's Hospital Colorado.

Anywhere from one-third to one half of CAMP mothers have histories of trauma “whether domestic violence from parents or siblings or intimate partner violence,” said Dr. Stephen Scott, director of the program, in an interview with The Washington Post. About one-fourth suffer from depression or anxiety or other mental illness, he added.

Read The Washington Post article about Children’s Colorado CAMP program.