Karen Patota is the founder of A Baby's Breath. The inspiration came from a friend’s experience with Planned Parenthood about 20 years ago. Karen’s friend was not given accurate information about her developing baby. Instead she was told that the baby was merely a clump of cells and she ultimately aborted her baby with this misinformation.  The birth of her first son was her inspiration to act upon her pro-life convictions.  When she held him in her hands and looked into his eyes, she saw God’s love.  She knew then what her friend who had an abortion had missed.

Karen is the mother of four children, which she has home schooled for the
past eight years. She earned a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering
from Drexel University in 1992 and a bachelor's degree in Applied Math
from California State University in Long Beach in 1989. She has been a
Parishioner for the past 14 years at Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
in Trooper. PA.

A Baby's Breath’s primary mission is to "help a mother to see her child take his/her first breath”.  It is a safe place where mothers, fathers, and families can talk freely
without being judged and where they can hear the truth from a voice filled
with compassion and hope. Through their pregnancy counseling sessions with
our volunteers, mothers learn about the life developing inside of them and
are given the opportunity to discuss and focus on their life goals. We
explore their options regarding adoption, speak to them about the message
of chastity, and also offer a first step in the healing process in post-abortive support.

Our first center, a small 400 sq. ft. office, opened on August 15, 2000 on the Feast
of the Assumption in the Jubilee year in honor of Our Lady. The counseling room
was so full of baby supplies that we barely had room to counsel. The move to our
current location in Jeffersonville at 2118 W. Main Street in September 2001 resolved
the space problem. We opened a second center at 1350 Willow Street in Norristown on August 15, 2003. Exactly two years later the Lord blessed our Ministry with our
third location Collegeville which opened on August 15, 2005.

A Baby's Breath is a registered 501(3)c charity, but it functions as a self-help organization.  We do this by helping clients develop the skills they need to provide a stable and loving environment for their children. We provide free tutoring in GED training. Our volunteer registered nurses conduct pre-natal classes on fetal development, nutrition, safety and related topics. We hold individual and group parenting class including budgeting advice from a registered financial planner, parenting techniques, and more for our parents in order to extend our support for life.  We are the front door to many other resources.  We have the forms our clients need to access help from other organizations. Our Baby Store houses supplies for our clients' babies (diapers, clothing, toys, cribs, etc.) and maternity clothing, which has been donated by kind folks throughout the Delaware Valley. Our clients accrue credits to purchase what they need by attending counseling sessions, GED sessions, parenting classes, pre-natal classes, etc. We do all of this through the grace of God, the support of our sponsors and contributors and the hard work of our dedicated volunteers.

Our dedicated volunteers have always been the foundation for A Baby’s Breath’s
ability to fulfill its mission. Our volunteers have generously donated their time, talent and treasure to this organization and are its life's blood. They are nurses, teachers,
engineers, business people, moms, dads, and clergymen assembled together
to help mothers, fathers, and families weather a crisis pregnancy. We know
that choosing life is not easy, but we know that where there's life - there's
hope. We supply the hope for mothers/fathers/families in crisis pregnancies.

Board of Directors

Karen Patota – Founder & President
Vince Arena – Vice President
Joe Baldassari, Esq. – Secretary
Dianne Boyle – Treasurer
Paul Burdett
Chris Custatis
John Giorgis
Maryanne Gullick
Mark Hitchcock
Clare Herm
Margaret Malloy
Anthony Re
Joeseph Smith
Dorothy Swedkowski
Jack Toukatly
Jen Volpe