A Morning Center supporter recently blogged about archeology and abortion.

Any killing of babies, at any stage of their life, inside or outside the womb, has always been unthinkable to me. Take a moment, please. Try to imagine archaeologists, many years from now, digging up abortion clinics and wondering, horrified, what could possibly be so important that that people felt the need to sacrifice so many of their infants!

Click here to read more!

We enjoyed reading it and encourage you to also! Please take a moment to read and pass it on.

We just got the Memphis Morning Center’s Mobile Care Unit back from getting wrapped and wanted to give you a sneak peek!

One step closer to our launch in Memphis.

Will you continue to pray with us as we work on the final steps for the Memphis Morning Center’s launch?

I read an NBC article recently that reported on a study showing that there are 68 countries safer for new born babies on their first day after birth than the United States. Click here to read the entire article.

While I cannot vouch one way or another for the accuracy of the entire article (statistics can be funny things), the author’s premise that the United States has poorer infant mortality and maternal mortality rates than it should is definitely spot on. This article also correctly identifies a few of the contributing factors to the United States’ alarmingly high infant mortality rates, the most significant of which is babies being born too early.

Tying into this train of thought, an article published on May 7, by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, suggests that induction and augmentation of labor with the hormone oxytocin may not be as safe for full-term newborns as previously believed. The primary investigator for ACOG, Dr. Michael S. Tsimis, MD, a researchers at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, conducted a retrospective analysis of deliveries that were induced or augmented with Oxycontin.

“As a community of practitioners, we know the adverse effects of Pitocin from the maternal side, but much less so from the neonatal side,” Dr. Tsimis said, “and these results suggest that Pitocin use is associated with adverse effects on neonatal outcomes.”

This is all near and dear to our hearts here at the Morning Center because we are not only working to bring quality, free maternity care to women in Memphis (arguably has the highest infant mortality rate in the nation) that will catch and early signs of fetal development difficulties and respond with solutions, but as our Philosophy of Birth states we also recognize that “a woman’s body has been perfectly designed by God for birth and in normal circumstances a baby can be born with no medical intervention.”

The mission of the Morning Center is to bring life and hope to women in urban and underserved areas, and that includes a focus on decreasing the maternal and infant mortality rates in those areas. Our approach is a holistic one when possible – where we focus on nutrition and good maternity care in an effort to change potentially poor outcomes to good ones!

We believe that with quality, non-invasive care, time-proven methods, and prayer God will bless the mothers and babies we serve with life, health, and hope.

You can help the Memphis Morning Center as they launch with providing office supplies and equipment that is needed.

If you have any items on this list that you would like to contribute, please email info (at) moringcenter (dot) org to arrange the donation.

• Manilla file folders
• Hanging file folders
• Pens
• Paper for printer
• Notepads
• Clipboards
• Staplers
• Paperclips
• Label Maker & Tape
• Clocks
• Scale
• Women’s multivitamins (unopened and unexpired)
• Extension cords
• Power strips
• Rubbermaid tubs
• Cardstock paper
• Sharpies
• Batteries

Additionally, if you prefer to give a gift card to the following locations where these items may be purchased, that is also greatly appreciated.

• WalMart
• Target
• Costco
• Office Supply Stores such as Office Depot or Office Max
• Vistaprint
• Amazon

You may mail your donated gift card directly to the Memphis Morning Center at:

PO Box 1136

Collierville, TN 38027

One of my privileges with the Morning Center is reading through the notes, stories and links that our supporters and friends send our way.

One story that recently encouraged and challenged me is the story of a woman who, when she was younger chose to have an abortion. She was a medical professional who was also faced with being asked to help with abortions at her place of work.

Her journey to healing has taken place over several years. Her story is one that reminds us of God’s daily faithfulness in bringing us out of pain and despair to hope and truth.

I am encouraged to read of God’s faithfulness, but I am also challenged to realize that I often miss opportunities to be Jesus’ hands and feet to women who are confused and hurting. Let’s remember to take every opportunity we can to love and serve those around us!

To be encouraged and challenged, read the story here!

- by Elysse Baumbach

Project Manager’s Report: March

March flew by so fast that I’m just now getting a chance to sit down and write a summary of everything that has happened.

March began with the Morning Center’s National Board meeting.

Following that meeting, we have been focusing on hiring our two new staff members in Memphis. Camille Clark is our Memphis executive Director and Davin Johnson is our new Nurse Midwife. They are both beautiful Christian ladies who bring many valuable assets to our team.

Our mobile unit was recently picked up. It is just about ready to get wrapped with the Morning Center’s logo.

The first part of a two-part article about the Morning Center was published in Samaritan Ministries’ Christian Health Care Newsletter. The second part will be coming out in May.

There is still a long list of things to get in place for the launch of the Memphis mobile unit but the list is getting shorter by the day!

Please continue to pray that God provides an OBGYN to oversee the Memphis Morning Center.

Thank you!

I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you and thank you for your enthusiastic support for the Morning Center project and for your commitment to reforming private charity. I am Camille Clark, the new Memphis Morning Center Executive Director.

The city of Memphis is one of this nation’s neediest when it comes to offering impoverished pregnant women a better alternative to abortion through free, quality maternity care in Jesus’ name.

In 2010 a Kessner Index report showed that only half of Memphis/Shelby County area pregnant mothers were receiving adequate prenatal care. The other half? Twenty-two percent received intermediate care and the other eighteen percent received infrequent and low-quality prenatal care or no care at all before delivery.

Sadly, these kinds of statistics are often connected to our high infant mortality rate which is recognized as one of the highest in the nation. It is no wonder that the prospects of having a successful, fulfilling pregnancy and delivery seem dismal to these poor inner-city mothers in Memphis.

We have a sense of urgency to move forward with our mission in Memphis.

Our main prayer focus for current financial needs center around the need for an OB/GYN who can deliver babies, monitor the quality of the Morning Center’s maternity care, and provide the required supervision for our nurse midwives.  Having an OB/GYN is critical for the Morning Center to be fully operational. Along with an OB/GYN serving as our medical director, we need to have medical malpractice insurance in order to see our first patient.

The Memphis Morning Center staff needs a well-stocked medical supply cabinet. There is a significant list of needed supplies ranging from basic items- like Kleenex, Band Aids, and paper towels – to important, one-time equipment purchases – such as fetal monitors, blood pressure cuffs, and computers.  Some of these basic items will need to be replenished regularly.

Finally, please pray for the Memphis staff as we are faced with providing full-time ministry services on part-time hours. There are mothers and babies who need our help now, and the more our staff is available, the more we can help.

Let me conclude by saying, “Thank you” for your contribution to this project. In whatever form contributions have been given, your investment in bringing the life of the gospel not only to women in Memphis but with God’s blessing, to women all around this country, is beginning to bear fruit. Continue persevering with us and know that your labors are not in vain.

If you want to join the team or support the Memphis Morning Center, let’s talk!

I look forward to hearing from you.

For True Charity in Memphis,

Camille Clark
Memphis Morning Center Executive Director

P.S. If you would like to give specifically to the Memphis Morning Center efforts, you can do that by going to https://morningcenter.org/give/