Local Programs

• We work to improve the health of babies across the country.
• Programs are aimed at supporting moms-to-be and professionals.
• We offer comfort and support to families with a baby in the NICU.

Comenzando bien® is a prenatal curriculum designed for pregnant women to learn about having a healthy pregnancy in a supportive group setting. It also provides culturally relevant social support/prenatal education for pregnant Hispanic women and demonstrates improved birth outcomes/behavior change.  The curriculum is available in both English and Spanish. 

This program involves:

• Revising the Comenzando bien evaluation tools to be user-friendly and to measure desired variables;
• Creating a statewide database to track information on sites and facilitators;
• Training facilitators at 32 sites participating in the initiative;
• Enrolling 3,600 women in the Comenzando bien 6-session series of classes and graduation;
• Collecting pre/post tests and follow-up postcards from participants.  The pre/post tests measured knowledge change and satisfaction.  The follow-up postcard measured birth outcomes and behavior changes.

The results included:

• A total of 2,248 pre-tests, 2,036 post-tests and 922 follow-up postcards were collected.
• Of the participants reporting birth outcomes, 98.1 percent delivered a full-term baby.
• Nearly all participants (99.4 percent) reported that Comenzando bien provided them with social support.
• One-hundred percent of participants reported that they changed their eating or exercise habits because of what they learned in the Comenzando bien classes. 
• On the pre-test, only 10.6 percent of participants stated that babies should always be put to sleep on their backs.  However, on the follow-up postcards, 97 percent of participants reported that they put their baby to sleep on its back. 
• One-hundred-sixteen participants reported that they stopped smoking because of what they learned in the Comenzando bien classes. 
• Culturally relevant prenatal education can improve birth outcomes, enhance participants’ social support and create behavior change. Participants gain social support and become mentors to each other.  Graduate participants who become mentors create a vested interest in each woman’s well-being. 
• Evaluation tools used through this project are being tested in Kansas (link) and California (link) chapters in 2010 so that results can be compared among three different states. 

Lessons learned:

• Host quarterly workshops for all facilitators in order to maintain continuity of education, share ideas and resources, and ensure evaluation protocols are followed.
• Use incentives to encourage each Comenzando bien site to utilize all evaluation tools and to increase program participation.