Situated inside suite 11 of the Woodbury Building, 8 N. First Ave., an all-volunteer staff operates with one mission in mind: help pregnant women carry to term.

Birthright is a nonprofit, emergency pregnancy service that offers alternatives to abortion. It promotes itself as being non-political and interdenominational, with the motto: “It is the right of every pregnant woman to give birth and the right of every child to be born.”

This month, it marks 35 years of service in Marshalltown, having first opened its doors in June 1983.

“I feel like there should be a place a pregnant woman can go to make her feel she’s important and cared for and not to give up,” said Betty Pieper, who co-directs the office alongside Bette Choate.

It is open from 3:30-5 p.m. Mondays, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and by appointment. But the lack of steady traffic to the office has raised concerns pertaining to its long-term sustainability.

“We struggle, but we still manage to stay open,” Pieper said. “We intend to stay here as long as we can, but we are just funded by individuals and churches, so it’s a little hard.”

Birthright offers free services, including pregnancy testing and counseling and has a selection of maternity and baby clothes available at no cost. Staff members also work closely with local social service agencies to help pregnant women get connected with healthcare, housing and mental health and spiritual services, as well as adoption agencies. However, they do not provide referrals for abortion services.

“We just try to help them (pregnant women) at the stage they’re in, and help solve their problems, step by step,” Pieper said. “I’ll ask what the biggest need is, and go from there.”

Since Birthright doesn’t have in-house certified-counselors, its volunteers are known as “friendship counselors.” Mary Lake serves in this capacity and also helps return local calls that come through the national hotline. She is a retired pediatric nurse.

“If we even save one life, it’s worth the time and effort,” Lake said.

Pieper said the frequency in which clients seek services, and the types of clients, have both changed dramatically since the clinic first opened in Marshalltown.

“At our height, we would do two-three pregnancy tests a day, and now we’ve only done four this year, but we also take calls,” she said. “We see more college-aged people, and not as many in high school — a lot more women who are married. We used to see pregnant mothers as young as 13-14 years old come in.”

Birthright was founded in Toronto, Canada in 1968 by Louise Summerhill, a pro-life activist and mother of seven, with the first U.S. clinic opening in 1969.

Volunteers must adhere to two stipulations: uphold confidentiality with clients, and not support abortion.

“I was a person that was kind of on the fence, until I went to a meeting and saw an OB-GYN give a presentation on (fetal development), and it made me say, that is a life, so it was then I got involved with Birthright,” said volunteer Ginger Eich, who has been with the organization the past five years.

Birthright will hold an open house in the fall, on a date to be determined. Volunteers are always needed to help sort through donations, do clerical work, write grants, do school and civic club presentations and act as friendship counselors.

To learn more, the clinic may be reached at: 641-753-0030. The national hotline may be reached at 800-550-4900, with additional information available at www.birthright.org. Birthright operates around 300 offices globally, in the United States, Canada and Africa.

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at 641-753-6611 or sjordan@timesrepublican.com