| (Indianapolis, IN, February 10, 2006) The Indiana Chapter of the March of Dimes announces today that 9 organizations in Indiana are receiving March of Dimes funding for programs that help further the mission of the March of Dimes to prevent premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality.
2006 recipients and programs include:
Children First Center Prenatal Mentoring Program
The Children First Center is continuing their Prenatal Mentoring Program, which was funded by March of Dimes for the first time in 2005. The program provides home based prenatal services to 60 at-risk mothers-to-be in DeKalb, Noble, and Steuben Counties. By providing early prenatal education, care and appropriate case management services the Prenatal Mentoring Program helps insure a positive and healthy start for expectant mother and their babies.
Cornerstone Family Center Prenatal Project
The Montgomery County Prenatal Project is a local collaborative effort to improve birth outcomes by increasing access to formal and informal, preconception, prenatal and postpartum education. The target audience is 100 low or limited income families, both Spanish and English speaking. March of Dimes prenatal curricula will be used Comenzando bien and Pregnancy Workshop. Outcome objectives include an increase in the percentage receiving prenatal care in their first trimester and a decrease in the percentage of women who smoke during pregnancy.
Dunebrook Prenatal Substance Use Prevention Program March of Dimes funding will allow Dunebrook to serve additional LaPorte County pregnant women in need of substance cessation counseling, education and referral services. The Prenatal Substance Use Prevention Program (one of 16 throughout the state developed by the Indiana State Department of Health) expects to serve 139 women for counseling and to reach an additional 450 women with information on the harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs during pregnancy.
Elkhart County Health Department Healthy Beginnings/Healthy Babies Program
Project funding will support the continuation of two March of Dimes funded bilingual community health workers in Elkhart County for a third year. Their task is to provide language appropriate prenatal care coordination and linkage to vital medical and related services. Outcome objectives include an increase in the percentage of those entering prenatal care early and a decrease in very low weight births among 250 predominantly Hispanic high-risk pregnant women.
Family Focused Nurturing Services Parents as Teachers
These funds will allow The Parents as Teachers program to expand its outreach to target 25 high risk pregnant women in Wabash County. The Prenatal Program provides assistance with transportation to doctor visits, health and nutrition information and community referrals for expectant mothers and parents of newborns.
Greene County Home Healthcare Agency Caring Hearts Program Caring Hearts is a Prenatal Care Coordination program, structured in accordance with Medicaid guidelines and modified to meet the needs of the population in Greene County. The agency proposes to serve 40 to 50 rural, low-income pregnant women through risk assessment, counseling on STDs and birth control, assistance to access early prenatal care, prenatal education, and in-home visitation to monitor prenatal and postpartum women and infants.
Maple City Healthcare Center Centering Pregnancy and Parenting Group Care Project
In the second year of March of Dimes support for the Centering Pregnancy project, the Maple City Health Care Center will continue to provide the Centering pregnancy group care project to 100 predominantly Hispanic women in Goshen and expand with 2 to 4 additional group sessions in the first 3 months postpartum. The postpartum sessions will focus on parenting and newborn health issues, postpartum depression, infection prevention, nutrition, and contraception. The model combines physical assessment with education and psychosocial support using facilitative teaching and group process.
Southwestern Indiana Regional Perinatal Advisory Board A Community Approach to Substance Abuse in Pregnancy
March of Dimes funding will allow this organization to significantly expand a program to decrease smoking and other substance use among pregnant women by improving smoking cessation counseling skills (5 As method) of area healthcare providers, by providing employer-based smoking cessation education and support to pregnant women. The project will reach 1500 pregnant women and 200 healthcare providers in Vanderburgh and surrounding counties and will collaborate with the March of Dimes to engage employers through the Healthy Babies Healthy Business intranet program.
Wishard Health Services Comenzando bien Prenatal Classes
The Wishard Hispanic Health Project will increase access to information, education, and other resources by Hispanic pregnant women, women of childbearing age and their families by offering the March of Dimes Comenzando bien curriculum at 3 community health centers within the Wishard system in Marion County, reaching 1500 individuals.
"A volunteer committee made up of helath professionals selected these programs for funding after reviewing the most pressing health needs of mothers and babies in Indiana," says Tim Arndt, Senior State Director of Communications and Marketing. "These programs will help address the alarming and rising rate of prematurity in Indiana as well as the continued fight to prevent birth defects and infant mortality."
For more information about the March of Dimes and it's grants programs contact Jan Arnold, State Director of Program Services at (317) 262-4668 or email jarnold@marchofdimes.com.
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