Maternal
and Child Health
Coalition of Greater
Press Release
Contact: Cesar Motts FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Cell: 913.636.4701 July 5, 2005
Congressman
Moore Visits
2:30 PM
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Healthy Start is a bi-state, home-visitation program that
seeks to improve the health of pregnant women and babies and decrease infant
mortality and racial disparities in health care in the
Recently, the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the award of $1.5 million dollars to the Kansas City Healthy Start Program over the next four years. This multi-million dollar federal grant will allow the Maternal and Child Health Coalition to continue their efforts and expand the Kansas City Healthy Start Program. In addition to its public awareness effort and health training programs, the health initiative will:
¨ Expand efforts and pinpoint gaps to overcome racial/ethnic, social and economic barriers so more women and infants have access to prenatal and postnatal health care.
¨ Increase the number of pregnant and postpartum women screened and treated for depression.
¨ Focus on interconceptional care (care between pregnancies) with an emphasis on pregnancy prevention and child abuse prevention and enhance programs to prevent teen pregnancy.
¨ Coordinate and link existing prenatal and child health programs, focusing on improved case management.
¨ Provide additional training and education for new and expectant mothers, as well as professional providers in areas such as nutrition, parenting, family planning and smoking cessation.
¨ Strive to increase the childhood immunization rate.
The Kansas City Healthy Start Program began in 1997 with a $7.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program targets inner-city neighborhoods, on both sides of the state line, where pregnant women and newborn infants face the greatest health risks plagued by drug use, high crime, physical deterioration, and a lack of adequate jobs.
During the last four years, Kansas City Healthy Start has had a significant impact on infant health in the targeted neighborhoods by:
¨ Providing services to over 1,400 mothers and their babies,
¨ Providing outreach education to over 6,400 persons in the community,
¨ Significantly increasing the number of women receiving prenatal care during their first trimester of pregnancy.
Kansas City Healthy Start has been a lifeline to hundreds of expectant mothers, infants and families in the urban core. Teams made up of outreach workers, family advocates and family support workers are working to get women into prenatal care as early in their pregnancy as possible. It involves earning the mother’s confidence, then offering resource information and guidance on such things as parenting, nutrition, relationships, housing and mental health services. The assistance can even include help with transportation and child care.
Maternal and
Child Health Coalition promotes the health of mothers and children through
community planning, education, advocacy and collaboration with organizations
addressing infant mortality, immunization, childhood obesity, and child safety. More
information about the Kansas City Healthy Start Program is available from Cesar
Motts at Maternal and Child Health Coalition, 6400 Prospect,
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