Welcome to
Willow Womens Center
Empowering women and families to step up into their calling. The heart of our mission is to love each client, like Christ, and empower them to make life-affirming decisions based on truthful facts about their pregnancy. After a decision for life is made, we surround each family with supportive services to help them succeed in their future.
Decisions Determine Destiny
We understand that when a woman is facing an unexpected pregnancy, that she is filled with fear of the unknown. This wasn’t in her plans. What will her parents think? What will her boyfriend think? Will he break up with her? How will she do this alone? How will she finish school? There are so many questions that she has and it’s important that we listen and understand her heart in the decision making process.
When we listen and prove ourselves trustworthy, we can present information in a way that helps these women to understand each of their options (parenting, adoption and abortion) through a new lens to be able to make a healthy decision for their future. Our 2023 statistics prove, that when we do this, 93% of women who are vulnerable to abortion or seeking an abortion will choose life for their unborn child.
The Appointment Process
Scheduling the Appointment:
When a women calls our center, our trained staff member answers basic questions she has and for those considering abortion, she asks them some questions as well.
Has your pregnancy been confirmed?
Do you know how far along you are?
These questions are important for a woman who is planning to get an abortion. At this point, most women have taken an at-home test and are worried about their future. Before she schedules an abortion, it’s vital that she has all of the information she needs to make an educated and empowered decision. This questions help her realize that she may need to know more information before scheduling her appointment. We know that if we can get her to come to us first, she is much more likely to choose life because we can transform her fear into confidence.
Women who choose not to call us can also schedule their appointment online without having to talk with anybody ahead of time. This allows for 24-7 scheduling and the ability to feel more anonymous when making her appointment.
Arrival and Intake:
Did you know that within the first 10-15 seconds of arriving at our center, a woman in crisis will decide whether or not she can trust us based on the welcoming she receives? It’s true! That initial greeting and warm welcoming smile can save a life. When she feels valued when she walks in, she can let down her guard and listen to us. In addition, the colors that we used for paint - a light sage-green - produce a calming effect. Everything down to the furniture, wall art and flowers help the woman feel valued and loved.
Once we have a picture of her identification card, she is escorted to a room so that we can gather basic information from her and learn a little bit about her life. What are her current plans? Who in her life is supporting these plans? Is there anyone who doesn’t support them? What risk factors does she have that might cause her to choose abortion?
This part of the appointment is vital because it gives her a chance to get her feelings and concerns off her chest. She feels loved and heard in a non-judgmental environment. Regardless of which option she is choosing, we promise to walk with her - and we never tell her what to do.
Pregnancy Test:
After the intake has finished, our the client advocate will help the woman transition to the medical part of the appointment. This portion of the appointments starts with a urine sample so that our nurse can run a medical-grade pregnancy test. While the nurse is working on the pregnancy test, the client advocate will sit with the patient and ask them about any sort of spiritual beliefs. Depending on the answer, and the willingness to participate in the conversation, the client advocate will then present the Gospel, a part of the Gospel or explore Christianity with the client.
This part of the appointment helps us share hope with the client, while they’re waiting for the pregnancy confirmation. In addition, it allows us to plant a seed with each person that there is a Father who loves them and desires a relationship with them. If the client is open to this conversation, we keep the Book of John, the New Testament, and the whole Bible on hand if they are interested in learning more.
Ultrasound:
Once the pregnancy is confirmed, our nurse will go through some medical questions to learn more about the health history of our client before beginning the ultrasound. Once it is confirmed that the client hasn’t had any cramping or bleeding and they are far enough along for an ultrasound - we prefer at least 6 weeks for a proper image - the ultrasound portion will begin.
Once an image is on the screen, the woman can invite her guest (boyfriend, friend or parent) back to be part of the ultrasound portion of the appointment. During the ultrasound, our nurse is looking for the gestational age of the child and a fetal heartbeat to detect viability. Both of these items also the woman to both see and hear her baby for the first time. Many women do not realize that the baby’s heart starts beating at 21 days and are surprised that the heartbeat can be detected. Most women who come to us are between 4-7 weeks pregnant during their first appointment. The client also learns a lot about her pregnancy, developing baby and details about each of her options during this part of the appointment.
Sexually Transmitted Infection Screening:
We offer free screening for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea to all of our community members, but especially women who are seeking an abortion. These two infections are the most common infections in our area of the country and both can be symptom-free, which means they can go undetected for a long period of time before causing any problems.
The main reason that we offer these screening options to women who are searching for an abortion is two-fold.
If a woman has an abortion with an active infection, the abortion procedure can push the infection into the uterus, causing complications for the woman that can lead to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Infection and future infertility.
When a woman agrees to be tested, she will get her results back in about a week, which gives her time to process the information that she learned during her appointment and an opportunity for a second ultrasound so she can see her baby again. Babies grow so fast in the first trimester! When they see a tiny “bean” in the first ultrasound, they might see arms and legs the next week!
The End of the Appointment:
At the end of the appointment, we ensure that we have answered each of the client’s questions before closing the appointment. After all the questions have ended, our Advocate asks the clients to fill out a survey to evaluate how we did. We also ask them if they’d like to leave a message for those who help this clinic remain free for everyone who comes in for an appointment. The feedback is always amazing!
The most important part of the evaluation is when we ask the client if they have any prayer requests. Oftentimes, even if the woman doesn’t have any spiritual background or belief in Jesus, she does leave a prayer request. We take these prayer request seriously. Since the first day of moving into our Prairie Avenue location, we have written every prayer request into a book that we pray over each week.
At the very end, we always offer a follow-up appointment to answer any questions that they may think of once they get home. We also offer a follow-up ultrasound so they can continue to see the baby grow. We have seen women who were abortion-determined come in for 4-5 follow-up appointments, who have chosen life because the mom is able to connect with her unborn child.
Follow Up Services:
Each client is told about our classes and follow-up services throughout the appointment. When the client leaves, she is given several handouts that have these follow-up services listed on them.
BrightCourse: This is a “Netflix” style parenting and practical skills program that allows us to customize classes to fit the specific needs of the client that we are working with. These classes cover information about pregnancy, infant care, toddlers, parenting, fatherhood, co-parenting, life skills and so much more. There is truly something for everyone!
Parenting the Love and Logic Way: We offer three of their curriculums to help those who already have children to become better and stronger parentings. These classes focus on raising respectful and responsible children, while maintaining a loving and fun relationship.
Kathy’s Kloset: As parents are taking the above classes, they can earn items that they need for their unborn child. This includes clothing, feeding supplies, bath supplies, baby care items and their final prize is a brand new pack & play or infant car seat! They are truly earning items while they learn about being a parent.
Case Management: For those who have a more complicated life (struggling with homelessness or other significant needs), we offer case management to help them figure out the best path to take to get themselves back on their own two feet and gain confidence.
Diaper Pantry: Any family in our community can come and receive diaper every 1st and 3rd week of the month until the child turns 3 years of age. This program has helped create awareness of Willow Womens Center and allowed us to develop trusting relationships with so many families in our community.
