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Delivering Prenatal Education through Community Collaboratives: A Catalyst for Improved Maternity Services and Birth Outcomes
Methods: Three sites (two rural, one urban) participated; each served pregnant low income and minority women. The project included three core components: 1) community collaboratives (bringing together clinical care and community education), 2) prenatal education curriculum, and 3) evaluation of infrastructure and curriculum. “Becoming a Mom” is a bilingual prenatal curriculum designed for a group of pregnant women to learn about having a healthy pregnancy and baby. Data from 2012-2013 was collected at the participant-level through self-reported knowledge assessments and health outcome data from medical chart reviews.
Results: Participants (N=183) (61% Caucasian, 23% Hispanic, 11% Black) reported improvements from pre/post measures in baby’s brain growth and development (81% to 95%), signs of preterm labor (49% to 83%), and safe sleep (81% to 98%). Health outcomes (n=30) showed improvements including fewer preterm births (10% versus 11% in Kansas), fewer low-birthweight babies (3% versus 7%), and breastfeeding initiation (81% versus 80%). One site increased breastfeeding initiation rates by 10% and lowered infant mortality from 10/1,000 live births to 8.3.
Conclusion: Addressing health disparities through collective impact by integrating state-level programs with local community collaborations is possible and necessary.
Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practiceDiversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Explain the importance of community collaborative action and improving birth outcomes.
Identify prenatal education and collaborative action evaluation tools.
Keyword(s): Maternal and Child Health, Birth Outcomes
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Diane Daldrup is the State Director, Program and Government Affairs for the March of Dimes Kansas Chapter. She directs mission investment activities statewide and has provided consulting expertise nationally on the regional collaborative model, including a 1999 presentation to policy makers on Vice President Gore’s “Regional Initiative Task Force” in Washing¬ton, D.C. She serves on Kansas CoIIN leadership team. Diane graduated with honors from Friend’s University in Wichita, Kansas with a Bachelor of Science degree.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.