Alabama Department of Public Health - $20,000
Preconception/Preterm Labor Education to Providers
State-wide perinatal provider office staff education on subjects related to preconception care, preterm labor prevention and smoking cessation.  Projected number of offices that training will be provided to is at least 100.  This training will improve the ability of perinatal providers to offer counseling services that have been shown to change health behaviors to patients and or/parents.

University of Alabama at Birmingham-Department of OB/GYN - $24,000
Alabama Prematurity Prevention through Progesterone Program
Implementation of a state-wide progesterone program to both enhance provider/patient education regarding the use and potential benefits of progesterone therapy and to increase access for underinsured high risk women to progesterone therapy. 

University of South Alabama-Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - $9,000
Emergency Preparedness Conference for Perinatal Providers
Develop and sponsor an Emergency Preparedness Summit for perinatal providers and support organizations intricately involved in obstetrical/pediatric care and emergency preparedness.

University of Alabama at Birmingham –Department of Maternal Child Health - $20,000
Birmingham Regional Birth Defects Registry
Establish a birth defects surveillance system for Alabama – initial work to establish system in Birmingham metro area (4 counties) and then expand the program to cover the remainder of state.

Parents and Children Together (PACT) of Morgan County - $20,000
Healthy Steps to Baby Steps (HSBS) Project
Educational enhancement and support programs for women related to preconception health behaviors and issues impacting high-risk pregnant women and their families related to preterm labor.  Project design is to impact the overall health of women and children, so that birth disparities will be reduced in Morgan County.

UAB Hospital
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Family Support Project
     Each year, approximately 1 in 10 newborns are admitted to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the United States. The hospitalization of a baby in a NICU can be one of the most frightening, confusing and overwhelming experiences for a parent. In its ongoing efforts to improve the health of babies, the March of Dimes NICU Family Support project was developed and launched in 2001 in three model sites.
     The program responds to the emotional and informational needs of NICU families during the NICU hospitalization, during the transition home, and in the event of a newborn’s death. The project also has as its goal to contribute to NICU staff professional development, and to promote a family-centered approach in Level III NICUs.
     The Alabama Chapter launched this project at UAB Hospital in 2005. This project has a projected three-year budget of $250,000.

COMMUNITY AWARDS

The Baldwin Clinic/La Clinica de Baldwin—$1,900
Provision of needed equipment for the Clinic Prenatal Program which provides treatment and care to approximately 130 pregnant women, 97 percent which are Hispanic and at the 100 percent poverty level.

Alabama AAP Smoking Cessation Program—$2,100
Train Alabama Pediatricians on the evidence-based clinical epidemiology of tobacco use and its related to diseases as they impact pregnant women and their babies/children.  Training will take place in 15 regional sites throughout the state of Alabama.

Zeta Phi Beta-Stork’s Nest
Montgomery & Tuscaloosa—$500 each
Provision of education and assistance to expectant low-income women by offering workshops and incentives in the “Stork’s Nest” to improve healthy behaviors among pregnant women.  The Stork’s Nest is a National Project of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and the March of Dimes.

Preemie for A Day Project—$5,000 each
Education program for the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Units at Huntsville Hospital and University of South Alabama Children’s and Women’s Hospital.

Alpha Phi Alpha —$1,000, (2 $500 awards)
Project Alpha is a National Partnership Project of the March of Dimes and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Brookwood Medical Center—$1,000
Professional Education award.