On October 28th, Madeline DeSantis, Philanthropy Officer at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, addressed the Rotary club of Nashua regarding, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Maddie has been with Planned Parenthood for the past year and previously worked with Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter.
The mission of planned parenthood is to provide, promote, and protect access to reproduction healthcare and sexuality education so that all people can make informed decisions on their reproductive and sexual health. They work thru patient care, education and advocacy.
It is an affiliate of Planned Parenthood of Federation of America. There are 53 other affiliates. 1 in 5 women use Planned Parenthood. 99% of women have used birth control. 1 in 4 women have had an abortion. In northern New England, 180,220 need public funded contraception services. Over 7500 unintended pregnancies are prevented and 2510 abortions are prevented each year by their services.
Patient Care includes education on types and options for birth control, fertility counseling, breast and cancer screenings, men’s and women’s healthcare as well as mental health care. Many patients report that Planned Parenthood is the only health care provider they see. Patients are highly satisfied and appreciate the trauma informed care model. All patients are approached as if they had trauma in their past. It makes for a better outcome for patient and provider.
There are 21 providers within NH, VT and Maine. In 2018 over 45000 patients seen. Its busiest NH site is in Manchester. Most patients are under 30 and 38% live below the poverty line (overall 7% of population in NH is below poverty line). Over 8.3 million dollars-worth of free or discounted care were provided in NH.
Health and sex education vary tremendously from state to state. They believe all people should have equal access to this education.
A brief question and answer period followed. Funding for PPofNE comes from a variety of sources – private, local, state and federal. There is no clinic yet in Nashua and they do hope to establish a clinic in the area.