When Rebecca Taylor of Meridian learned she was pregnant with her first child, she was caught by surprise.

"We had just opened the window to the idea of trying when I found out," she said. "So we were shocked that it happened so quickly."

Taylor, 33, who is in her 14th week of pregnancy, said one of her initial concerns was the impending lifestyle change. She wonders where she is going to find the energy to chase after a small child.

So where did she go - other than her obstetrician/gynecologist - for motherhood information and advice? The Internet.

Taylor is among a new generation of mothers-to-be - women more accustomed to Googling than thumbing through a book for answers. Her favorite motherhood Web site: www.babycenter.com.

The Web offers hundreds of choices for parents-to-be to look up information about prenatal care and all those odd symptoms that come along with expecting a baby.

"On the message boards, I chat with other moms-to-be and mostly find out the things that I'm experiencing are normal," Taylor said.

Like Taylor, many expectant mothers find that navigating the new mommy highway's many twists and turns can be confusing, time-consuming and overwhelming. But no one has to do it alone. The state offers many programs to ensure pregnant women receive the care they need.

If a woman has insurance through her place of employment, many policies cover the majority of pregnancy-related expenses. For those who don't have insurance or those who have insurance but fall within a certain income bracket, the state can step in and make sure the mother and child's needs are met.

The goal of the Mississippi Division of Medicaid is to ensure the state has a low infant mortality rate and that children born in Mississippi have an increased birth weight.

According to the United Health Foundation's latest statistics for 2004, Mississippi has the nation's highest infant mortality rate at 10.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. The good news: more than 78 percent of pregnant women in the state receive adequate prenatal care. The national average is 76 percent.

However, 85 percent of those women were white, while 69 percent were black. Mississippi also ranks 21st in nation in the adequacy of prenatal care.



State help

Janie Hobbs, nurse administrator for the state Division of Medicaid's Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, and Cindy Thames, director, said the state's Women Infants and Children, or WIC, program serves about one-third of the state's pregnant women.

WIC serves women who qualify through prenatal care, delivery and up to 60 days postpartum.

Thames also is head of the Early and Periodic Diagnostic Screening and Treatment program, a preventative health program.

"The purpose is to catch diseases early and intervene," Thames said, adding that the program screens for vision, hearing and developmental issues.

Preventing infant diseases and developmental issues depends in large part on the level of prenatal care the mothers receive.

Brent Fountain, a nutrition specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said proper diet and exercise during pregnancy can go a long way to ensuring a healthy baby.

"It's important that expectant mothers don't diet and (instead) eat a healthy and balanced diet consisting of milk, fruits and vegetables that offer nutrition processed foods do not," Fountain said.

"If there is a deficiency, the baby will draw what it needs from the mother. It will take calcium from her bones and iron. It's important that the mother take care of her health so the baby has a chance for health outside the womb."

Fountain said it is important that expectant mothers keep their appointments with their prenatal care providers and are checked for regular, sustained growth of the fetus.



The baby's here, what next?

Once that bundle of joy arrives, finding adequate and available day care can also be a challenge. A list of local licensed day cares is available at the State Department of Health's Web site. But finding day care in the Meridian and Lauderdale County area for infants can seem next to impossible.

Jesselyn Harper, director of the Child Development Center at Highland Baptist Church, said it is hard to find day care for children under a year old in Meridian. She said a lot of centers don't accept infants because it isn't economically feasible.

"In private centers, a profit is needed, and we look at it more as a ministry," Harper said. "More workers are needed per child and it is not always financially productive."

Harper said Highland accepts 14 children under a year old, and the state requires the ratio for that age group be one worker for every five infants.

She said Meridian once had some really good home-care givers but many of them have either retired, moved or passed away. She said it has left the day care pool pretty shallow.

"Infants are demanding," she said. "They need to be held, have their diapers changed, fed and coddled."

She recommends that parents begin looking for a day care the minute they find out they are expecting. She said many centers have long waiting lists, including Highland, and it's best to get on a list right away.

Vickey Maddox, director of licensure for the State Department of Health, said the first thing parents should look for when trying to find a day care is a clearly-displayed license.

"Parents should go visit the day care, interview the director and interview the care givers and make sure it is a warm and loving environment," Maddox said.

She said the department's Web site also offers information about any substantiated complaints at local day cares. Someone from her office visits licensed facilities at least once a year, she said, and her office always investigates complaints.

ON THE WEB

For more information about pregnancy, child care and prenatal health issues, visit these Web sites:

United Health Foundation, www.unitedhealthfoundation.org

Mississippi Division of Medicaid, www.dom.state.ms.us — or call (800) 421-2408

Mississippi State Department of Health, www.msdh.state.ms.us or www.healthymississippi.com

Mississippi State University Extension Service, http://msucares.com