Mountain Area Pregnancy Services: A Safe Place to Find Real Answers
Kristi Brown, Executive Director of Mountain Area Pregnancy (MAPS) says every person who walks through their doors is treated with love, respect, and compassion, regardless of their situation, where they are from, or what they believe. “We treat people from all walks of life,” Brown says. “And every single person is treated with love and acceptance.”
Mountain Area Pregnancy Services (MAPS) is a non-profit ministry in Asheville, NC providing compassionate and inclusive care to women and men experiencing issues related to an unexpected pregnancy. Whether they need advice, guidance, or parenting education, MAPS provides it, completely free of charge. While MAPS identifies as a Christian ministry, the individual’s beliefs do not change the kind of care they receive. “It doesn’t matter what someone’s beliefs are, because at the end of the day, the girl needs help,” Brown says. “We let them make their decision, and our job is to just educate them.” In fact, out of the 300 clients they see per year, 57% of them do not identify with the Christian faith.
Brown, who has been the Executive Director for the past three and a half years, says the most rewarding part of it all is seeing lives truly changed for the better. “The coolest part is seeing lives changed and impacted forever,” Brown says. “That is the most incredible aspect of this work.”
Mountain Area Pregnancy (originally known as Birth Right and Asheville Pregnancy Support Services) began providing compassionate care to women and men dealing with unplanned pregnancies in 1981, and has continued to expand their care services since then. In 2006, they opened the doors of their first ultrasound center to provide free ultrasound services to the community. In 2013, Asheville Pregnancy Support Services (APSS) moved to what is now their current location on Old Haywood Rd. That same year, they opened an ultrasound clinic at the Tri County Pregnancy Center in Burnsville, NC, a first-of-its-kind partnership with two independent pregnancy centers working together to provide clinical services to the community. It was in 2016 that APPS changed its name to Mountain Area Pregnancy Services (MAPS) to reflect the expanded outreach to other areas of Western North Carolina.
The mission of MAPS is to be a relevant Christ-centered outreach ministry partnering with the churches of WNC by providing care, counseling, and education to women and men who have been impacted by an at-risk or unexpected pregnancy. In addition to pregnancy care services, MAPS also provides grief counseling for those who have lost a child due to a stillbirth, miscarriage, or who are facing a devastating diagnosis for their child.
The grief program at MAPS is made up of four aspects. Eva’s Footprints, a perinatal hospice program, offers support and guidance to families who receive a life-limiting diagnosis for their child and decide to carry the child to term instead of terminating the pregnancy. “Most families will have an anatomy scan around twenty weeks, and this is when the doctors tell them whether there is a serious condition,” Brown explains. “And if there is a fatal condition, sometimes they are encouraged to terminate the pregnancy at that point; our program is an alternative to this.”
The second aspect of the grief program is SOAR (Spirtually Overcome Abortion Regrets) where women and men can receive one-on-one support to help them deal with the aftermath of an abortion, no matter how long ago they had the experience. “We understand the impact an abortion has in someone’s life,” Brown says. “We know the side effects of an abortion such as depression, anxiety, and guilt, and we want them to be free of all of that so they can live healthy lives emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually.”
MAPS also offers one-on-one grief counseling to any individual who has been through a miscarriage, stillbirth, or other devastating diagnosis. This counseling resource is free and confidential and is available to everyone.
The fourth aspect of the grief program is a “compassion scan,” or “compassion ultrasound.” MAPS provides these scans for families who have received a life-limiting diagnosis for their child and for those who have experienced a pregnancy or infant loss previously and are now pregnant again. Compassion scans record the baby’s heartbeat which is then placed inside of a teddy bear to provide hope, comfort and peace for the parents.
MAPS also provides free parenting and life skill classes to parents of all ages. Individuals who attend these classes have the opportunity to earn free items for their baby in exchange for their participation. “At the end of the day, our mission is to support, counsel and help them,” Brown says. “MAPS is a safe place to find real answers.”
Carrie Quilla’s Story
Carrie Quilla and her husband were very excited when they found out they were pregnant in April 2019. When it was time for their first anatomy scan, she and her husband were given devastating news. Their baby was diagnosed with Anencephaly, a serious birth defect in which a baby’s brain and skull do not fully develop. Doctors said their baby would most likely die in the womb, or shortly after birth.
They were referred to a maternal fetal specialist who confirmed their baby’s diagnosis. At this point, parents are usually encouraged to terminate the pregnancy, but Quilla wanted to meet her baby. “I didn’t want to have an abortion because I really wanted to meet her,” Quilla expresses. Quilla began researching perinatal hospice programs and came across MAPS. “Every two weeks, I went in to have a compassion scan done to get to know my baby,” Quilla recalls, tearfully. “We read stories and sang to her. Her name is Elizabeth Ava.” MAPS also helped Quilla and her husband come up with a birth plan and were there with her every step of the way.
Elizabeth Ava was born October 30, 2019 and only lived for two hours. What was important to Quilla was that she got to meet her baby and hold her, and this wouldn’t have been possible without the support of MAPS. “When you are given this news, where do you go and what do you do?,” Quilla says. “MAPS was there for us.”
Five and a half months later, Quilla found out she was pregnant again. This time, it was a little boy named Jessie Aiden. Sadly, her second baby was diagnosed with the same condition and only lived a couple of hours after birth. MAPS guided them through the process a second time. “I had closure because I was able to do everything a normal mom would do,” Quilla says. “I was able to sing to my babies and hold them, and now I can treasure the memories of my babies alive.”
Kendra Burnette’s Story
23-year-old Kendra Burnette found out she was pregnant in May of this year. Her pregnancy was unplanned, but she was able to come to MAPS to get the help and support she needed. Burnette and her boyfriend attended the MAPS parenting classes together on a regular basis and were able to learn valuable and important skills. “The classes are super helpful for us, since we don’t have any family support,” Burnette says. Burnette has also received supply donations from MAPS including diapers, bottles, wipes, and other important items. Burnette says when she first came to MAPS, she was scared because she had a lot of family issues going on, but now she feels more confident because she knows she has people she can call if she ever needs anything. “Me and my boyfriend are very thankful to have found MAPS,” Burnette expresses. “I don’t know what we would’ve done!”
