THE FAMILY LETTERS PROGRAM
What is the Family Letters Program
?
Family Letters is an education program that consists of letters designed with the aim of providing support to mothers and fathers, from the point they decide to have a child through pregnancy, to the period when their child is between 0 to 3 years of age. It was prepared by ACEV, with the aim of informing and supporting families on issues of safe motherhood, child development/education, nutrition, and health. There are a total of 30 letters; six cover the pregnancy period, one letter each for every month of the baby's first year, and one letter every two months between the 13 th and the 36th months.
Who does the Family Letters Program target
?
The program targets families planning on having a child, mother candidates, and parents who have children between the ages of 0 to 3.
How is the Family Letters Program implemented ?
The Family Letters Program is implemented in the maternity wards and children's clinics of various hospitals in Istanbul . Within the context of the program, ACEV's education experts provide free-of-charge training seminars with the aim of imparting information on pregnancy, childbirth, child development, child education, nutrition, and health to mother candidates. Specialist doctors of these hospitals also attend these seminars as trainers. The training sessions are backed with “Family Letters” information kits that are distributed to the participants, and discuss the seminar topics in detail. The three-hour seminars are geared toward groups of 50 to 100 participants, and a Q&A session is included. There are plans to expand the program to other provinces.
How was the Family Letters Program developed ?
The letters were written by Aylin Koçak, under the consultancy of Prof. Dr. Sevda Bekman, Şeyma Doğramacı, Selda Özen, and Dr. Şule Yazgan. Janet Molzan Turan, Dr. Nuriye Altaylı, Dr. Yusuf Sahip, Dr. Ali Kemal Çetin, Nurse Sevgi Gökdemirel, and Canan Özer contributed to the letters pertaining to the pregnancy period.
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