About 1,500 women a year are treated. An estimated 40 percent of the patients are illegal immigrants, but the center's workers don't really know because it's a question they don't ask. Some of the women get routine prenatal care, all are offered parenting skill classes. Those who are being abused are walked down the street to Ayuda, an immigration and domestic abuse center. He can use her as a broom because she needs him for the green card.
Pregnant women are special targets for abuse.
The vast majority of babies born to women seen at the clinic are born healthy, said Gomez. But the developmental delays seen in 60 percent of the babies at their 18-month checkup suggests great deprivation. The parents don't have enough knowledge about talking to babies. They don't know nutrition, and there are a lot of problems of obesity and failure to thrive. The overcrowding brings motor development issues.