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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Marie C. Meglen, MS, CNM, Prematurity Prevention Partnership, Palmetto Healthy Start, 223 Stoneridge Drive, Suite B, Columbia, SC 29210, Kimberly Alston, Director, Palmetto Healthy Start, 223 Stoneridge Drive, Suite B, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-296-2786, Kimberly.Alston@PalmettoHealth.org, Vince Ford, Senior Vice President for Community Services, Palmetto Health, Post Office Box 2266, Columbia, SC 29202-2266, and Karen Waldrop, Director of Program Services, March of Dimes, 37 Villa Road, Suite 317, B-123, Greenville, SC 29615.

Through cooperative agreement with the CDC's Division of Reproductive Health; National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the March of Dimes and its South Carolina Chapter is working with Palmetto Healthy Start (PHS) to reach predominantly African American women with preconception and inter-conception support and education. “Reducing Prematurity Risks/Strengthening My Foundation—Brick by Brick” (BBB) expands an existing PHS-MOD Grant: Prematurity Prevention Partnership (PPP), which has been very effective in reaching pregnant women. In early 2005, a creative support/education/information group that includes individual proactive “coaching/encouragement/support” for risk reduction was initiated with non-pregnant women. Participants in the support group sessions utilize building blocks or ‘bricks' to represent risk-reduction behaviors to adopt including folic acid use, good nutrition, optimal weight, pregnancy spacing, dental health, smoking cessation, management of chronic conditions, stress management, social support and treatment of infections. Each participant selects the ‘bricks' she will include in building the foundation for her next pregnancy. These, taken together become her Prematurity Prevention Plan. The project's Prematurity Prevention Nurse provides coaching toward individual plan goals with assistance from Peer Counselors. Reports of participants' progress with modifying risk factors as well as their feedback regarding BBB support/education/information will be presented. Efforts to expand the BBB Project by disseminating general preconception and inter-conception Prematurity awareness and risk-factor reduction educational presentations through a network of African American women's groups will be described and discussed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to

• Identify at least 5 modifiable prematurity risk factors in the non-pregnant woman.
• Describe a process for working with African-American women's groups to communicate a pre-conception health message and then assess the impact and reach of that message.

Keywords: Pregnancy Outcomes,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No