2.  Boston Medical Center, Teen and Tot Project LEEAP (Leading and Empowering Adolescent Patients)
            The Teen and Tot Program of the Dept. of Pediatrics will implement Project LEEAP as an entire family approach to reducing disparities by engaging the pregnant teen, the expectant father/partner, and other family members such as the maternal grandmother in a new prenatal education series. The series is a 7 week prenatal education curriculum that will be offered 6 times throughout 2007 with the goal of reaching 80 adolescents from Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and Jamaica Plain. The curriculum will focus on:

•  The risks of smoking during pregnancy through the 5 A’s model, with the goal that 75% of the women will stop smoking by 24 weeks gestation.
•  Education about the risks of urinary tract infections and STD’s, along with treatment if necessary.
•  Screening and prevention services.

3.  North Suburban WIC Program, Hallmark Health System, Inc., Feeling Fit & Fabulous: Healthier Baby & Me.
 The project will help 100 at risk pregnant women enrolled in WIC achieve better birth outcomes through appropriate weight gain, increased physical fitness and improved healthcare. In addition, linking women to financial resources.  The majority of the population is pregnant women from Malden, Medford and Everett who are Haitian, Brazilian, African American, Vietnamese and Hispanic.

The project will enroll women at 20 weeks gestation in three basic interventions:
• Increased exercise
• Improved nutrition
• Enhanced access to services and resources that will ensure that the women will receive adequate prenatal care.

     A series of 10 prenatal exercise classes and walking program and a series of cooking classes that incorporates basic nutrition education.

4. Hallmark Health System, Inc.  Baby Café at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital
        To create a ‘free of charge” Baby Café (trademarked, international venture designed to support and promote breastfeeding using a community based  approach). The Café hopes to reach 1000-2000 new moms of all backgrounds. Melrose-Wakefield Hospital provides in-patient lactation care to post-partum mothers. To provide continued support of breastfeeding post discharge the hospital developed an informal drop in Breastfeeding Support Group. The usage has been substantial and has resulted in serving a greater geographical area. And therefore some substantiated needs.

    With funding, additional hours will be provided including evening hours for working Moms.  Other aspects of the Baby Café are:
• Comprehensive follow-up services to other health care professionals
• The Café program will provide mothers with their own charts in which the mother documents issues, concerns and problems
• Assures prenatal mothers that assistance wile b there for them, thereby increasing the likelihood that she will choose to breastfeed.

5. Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. Women & Children Center, Pre/Postnatal Care And Parenting Education Program
              To provide a specialized 12 month Parenting program for 50 pregnant women at Spectrums Women and Children’s Center (WCC).  The WCC was established to address the growing crisis of pregnant substance abuse among women sentenced to the MA Correction system.  Spectrum has secured funding for an 8 month program and the funding provided by the March of Dimes will help them to expand this to 12 months.

   The program, the first in MA, assists women in attaining drug –free births and allows them to remain with their infants.  The program includes an integrated treatment approach that balances the medical needs of the women and their children with the psychological issue that lead to substance abuse and crime.  The daily schedule includes
Instruction in 5 basic areas:
•  Substance abuse treatment
• Relapse prevention
• Medical care
• Parenting education
• Re-entry support services