Member Spotlight: Brittany Bestwick at the Baker County Health Department

Name: Brittany Bestwick

Position: Healthy Start Projects and Care Coordinator at the Baker County Health Department

Degrees: Psychology and Spanish from Auburn University

Hometown: Birmingham, AL

Favorite Part of Jacksonville: The beach

Currently reading: Eat, Pray, Love

 

I am serving with the Baker County Healthy Start Program, which is an outreach program that strives to educate the community about healthy pregnancy and positive infant care. Healthy Start is a statewide program, and its services are particularly important in communities like Baker County, where the infant mortality rate is significantly higher than the state average and many of the deaths are related to un-safe sleep practices and other preventable causes. As part of my service, I facilitate a parenting support group called Parents Helping Parents, which uses an evidenced-based curriculum and strives to empower parents. The topics discussed in the group include safety, health and wellness, discipline, and child development. I think that this group can be very valuable for parents because it gives them a chance to share their experiences and form social connections with other parents in the area. Various participants have told me that attending the group was beneficial for them and their families, and that they learned a lot of new parenting skills. It is very rewarding to see the participants gain confidence in their ability to parent effectively!



Brittany giving a Safe Sleep presentation!



In Baker County, Healthy Start is able to provide a safe sleep environment to individuals who cannot afford a crib. I give safe sleep presentations to each of these individuals. The presentation talks about the ABC’s of safe sleep (babies should always sleep Alone, on their Backs, and in a Crib!), and ways to reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), such as breastfeeding and not smoking. I feel that this service is an important part of our effort to reduce sleeping related infant deaths in the community. Other responsibilities that I have include screening participants for the Healthy Start program and continuing to follow-up with participants to offer them support throughout their pregnancy and after delivery. I really enjoy this part of my service because I am able to form relationships with Healthy Start participants and help them have a healthy pregnancy and prepare for motherhood. I joined AmeriCorps because I wanted to make a difference while gaining professional experience to help prepare me for graduate school and beyond. I have decided to go to nursing school next year, and hope to become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. Through my service this year, I feel that I am gaining many skills that will help me in my future career. In addition, I have met many wonderful people and had the opportunity to live in a new place. I already have so many great memories from this year, and cannot wait to see what the rest of the term has in store!