The best time to identify and address risk factors for mother and baby is before conception, or during the first three months of pregnancy. Early prenatal care is critical to the success of medical care and social service interventions. In 1997, Oregon ranked 40th in the nation in early prenatal care utilization. One in five women in Oregon did not receive first trimester prenatal care in 1997.
Oregon MothersCare is an initiative to increase the percentage of pregnant women in Oregon who receive first trimester prenatal care to 90%, which is the U.S. Healthy People 2010 Objective. Through Oregon MothersCare, public and private agencies work in partnership to streamline, coordinate, and promote access to prenatal services. In the first year of the project, 825 clients were served and the project has grown from the original five participating sites to fourteen.
The presenter will describe key components of the project including (1) an ongoing outreach and marketing campaign; (2) a state-wide, toll-free hotline to link pregnant women to prenatal services quickly and efficiently; (3) a referral and advocacy network of state and community partners, and clinical prenatal providers; and (4) a system of local access sites to assist women in obtaining pregnancy testing, Medicaid, prenatal care, WIC, and other pregnancy services.
In addition, the presenter will describe the contributions of each partner organization, funding sources, results to date, and lessons learned.
See www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/news/1999/1015pcah.htmLearning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to: 1) Articulate the components of Oregon MothersCare; 2) Describe the partner organizations and their contributions to the project; 3) Understand the development of the project and lessons learned
Keywords: Prenatal Care, Public/Private Partnerships
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: employment, grants