BLOOMINGTON - A program for first-time and teen parents has been expanded to improve the bonds between mothers and babies and to reduce the risk of child abuse and neglect.

Doula services have been added to Healthy Start, a program of The Children's Foundation in association with The Baby Fold, agency representatives announced Tuesday at The Children's Foundation.

"Doula" is derived from a Greek word that means "woman's servant." Two doulas added to Healthy Start - Dionne Otto and Michele Carroll - will prepare parents for labor and delivery and help them write a birth plan, assist mothers during medical appointments, attend to mothers during labor and delivery, help with initial breast feeding, and follow up weekly for six to eight weeks after delivery, Otto said.

Supporting and educating first-time and teen moms increases the likelihood that they will speak up for themselves and their babies, increases the odds of a successful delivery and infant care, and reduces the risk of child neglect and abuse, said Otto and Teri Burrows, Healthy Start supervisor.

"I see this as a way for women to have a positive birth experience and to feel empowered and self-confident, and to feel strongly about their relationship with their baby," Otto said.

Both BroMenn Regional Medical Center in Normal and OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington have said that women may use doulas.

Healthy Start is a voluntary program of home visits, from prenatal until the child is 5, to first-time and teen parents in McLean, DeWitt, Piatt and Woodford counties, Burrows said.

Burrows said Healthy Start is adding doula services because it provides women with more support, especially during labor and delivery, and because research shows that women who use doulas have a better birthing experience and bond better with their child.

"We have a lot of teen births and a lot of teens keeping their babies," Otto said.

Healthy Start received state funding for the doula program through the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a statewide public-private partnership. The program is the 22nd doula program supported by the fund statewide, said Nick Wechsler, the fund's assistant director for program development.