Jor-El Godsey, President of Heartbeat International, USA, is a keynote speaker at the fourth edition of Romania’s National Conference of Pregnant Women Support Centers. The event is organized on November 19-20 by the Association for the Support of Families and Pregnant Women and is open to all interested parties.
The theme of the current edition is “Support centres for pregnant women: from the essential need to practical functioning”.
The goal of the event is to offer inspiration and practical advice to Romanians involved in helping women in pregnancy crisis.
The conference will be held online, on the Zoom platform, and participation is free. One can register by filling in the participation form.
Program
Friday, November 19
9:00-10:00 – Conference opening
Keynote speaker: Jor-El Godsey, President of Heartbeat Internațional, USA
10:00-11:00 – Introducing the participants. Presentation of the Association “Love the First Heartbeats” and of the e-learning platform dedicated to training the pregnancy support centre workers
11:00-12:00 – “Supporting Pregnant Women during the Pandemic – Examples of Good Practices from the USA”
12:00-13:00 – “Managing Attachment and Co-Dependenence Issues”, with Bogdana Fati – a psychologist at the “Holy Empress Alexandra” Counselling and Support Centre (Bucharest)
13:00-14:00 – Lunch break
14:00-15:00 – “How to Organize Online Support Groups for Pregnant Women”, with psychologist Bogdana Fati and social worker Veronica Tuțu from the “Holy Empress Alexandra” Counselling and Support Centre (Bucharest)
15:00-16:00 – “5 Ways to Fundraise for Your Centre”, with Veronica Caziuc, financial manager of the Association for the Support of Families and Pregnant Women
16:00-17:00 – “Supporting Women in Pregnancy Crisis over the Phone” with Violeta Dumitrașcu, Executive Coach & Digital Trainer
Saturday, November 20
10:00-11:00 – “Good Practices in Managing Your Centre’s Team”, with Mihaela Vișan, coordinator of the PULS Centre in the city of Oradea
11:00-12:00 – “Counselling Women in Pregnancy Crisis in a Hospital Environment”, with Tabita Botoi, coordinator of the Pro-Life Mission of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Alba Iulia
12:00-13:00 – “Methods and Procedures of Intervention when Supporting Women in Pregnancy Crisis”, with Alexandra Nadane, Executive Director of the Association for the Support of Families and Pregnant Women
13:00-14:00 – Lunch break
14:00-15:00 – “Social Assistance for Underprivileged Pregnant Women”, with Veronica Tuțu, a social worker at the “Holy Empress Alexandra” Counselling and Support Centre (Bucharest)
15:00-16:00 – “Pregnancy: Stages of Development”, with Dr Eliza Cloțea – an obstetrics-gynaecology resident doctor in a Bucharest hospital
15:00-16:00 – How to manage difficult pregnancy crisis cases (victims of domestic violence, women with a history of abuse, victims of human trafficking) – discussion, exchange of experience
16:00-17:00 – Supporting pregnant women during the pandemic. Particularities and Challenges – discussion, exchange of experience
The Association for the Support of Families and Pregnant Women runs to centres that offer counselling and support services to large families, single mothers and women in pregnancy crisis.
The centres are located in the capital city of Bucharest, Romania: Holy Empress Alexandra, inaugurated in 2017, and Holy Empress Helen, inaugurated last year, on the feast of the Holy Brâncoveanu Martyrs, who are the Romanian patrons of the pro-life cause.
The former offers long-term support, while the latter specializes in short-term interventions, especially for women in pregnancy crisis. Alexandra Nadane is the Executive Director of the association. She will also be the host and moderator of the national conference.
Heartbeat International is the first network of pro-life pregnancy resource centres in the US and the largest and most expansive in the world. It was founded in 1974 by Peggy Heartshorn, who started hosting women in pregnancy crisis at her home.
Since then, the organization has become the largest in the world, with 2,800 affiliated centres on six continents. In the US alone, the number of such centres is approximately 1,300.
The current Heartbeat President, Jor-El Godsey, has worked in the pro-life movement since 1988 and is serving as the second president of the organization, after founder Peggy Heartshorn. He is devoted to Heartbeats’ main mission, which is to provide training and support for its affiliated pro-life leaders from all over the world.
Photo source: CentrulSfantaElena.ro (opening photo)
