Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation Provides Nurseries to Help Teen Mothers

As part of its focus on assisting and empowering teen and working mothers, the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation operated a number of day nurseries during the 2005/06 fiscal year.
According to the Foundation’s annual report for this period, which was tabled in the House of Representatives last week, 929 babies were accommodated in the nurseries for teen mothers.
These nurseries facilitate the observation of interaction between mother and child; support and guidance for the young mothers; recommendation of corrective measures where necessary by competent caregivers; and continued breast-feeding throughout the day, as is possible.
The ‘Chubby Cheeks Day’ nursery operated at the Kingston and Montego Bay centres, and the Junction outreach centre, the report says, “provided affordable care for babies of teen mothers (when they return to school) and other working mothers who cannot afford the high cost of child care”.
The facilities are registered under the Ministry of Education and Youth’s Early Childhood Unit.
Meanwhile, the pre-school facility, which is operated at the Montego Bay centre, had 21 students on register, with periodic visits made by personnel from the Ministry. “Every effort was taken to ensure that the stipulated standards were maintained and that the children were served by qualified teachers,” the document states.
The nurseries are operated on two bases – one for babies of teen mothers, which is operated at each main centre and outreach site; and another for the babies of working mothers at three sites.