Texas programs

  • We’re improving the health of babies in Texas.
  • Our programs support moms-to-be and health care professionals.
  • We offer comfort to families with a newborn in intensive care.

 


Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait Focuses on Decreasing Preventable Late Preterm Birth

This three year project, from 2011 to 2013 is in partnership with March of Dimes; three Houston hospitals - Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, St. Joseph Medical Center, and The Woman’s Hospital of Texas; and the Harris County Hospital District.  72% of preterm births in Texas are late preterm births, or those between 34 and 36 weeks gestation; making this an important initiative to decrease the number one killer of newborns: premature birth.  The project’s essential elements involve the “5 P’s”: Partnerships, Providers, Patients, Public, and Performance Evaluation.  The project is being led by a Houston Advisory Board, made up of obstetricians, woman’s health nurses, neonatologists and public health professionals.

Houston Project Goals:

  • Reduction of singleton late preterm birth rate by 12% by 2014 in the Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait sites
  • Reduction in elective inductions and cesarean sections conducted prior to 39 weeks gestation
  • Positive change in consumer knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding preterm birth and elective procedures
  • Positive change in provider knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding elective procedures and the management of preterm birth
  • Increase patient entry  into pre-natal care in the first trimester
© 2011 March of Dimes Foundation. The March of Dimes is a non-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).