Healthy MothersHealthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County

The Organization is the Prenatal Entry Agency for the Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County's Healthy Beginnings system of care. Through prenatal screening, assessment and linkage to services, the Organization supports clients in need of prenatal care access, health care navigation, medical payment source and other intensive social service needs to improve their birth outcome. This fiscal year, 13,594 pregnant women were referred to the Organization. Of those 7,965 were referred by the Healthy Start Prenatal Risk Screen and 5,629 were referred from other sources. Of these, 8,921 pregnant women had at least one contact with HMHB and 3,245 women received an individualized prenatal intake. The organization has touchpoints with nearly 60% of women who deliver babies in Palm Beach County.

Our Basics4Babies Emergency Pantry for Infants remained the only infant focused pantry in Palm Beach County and continued to experience tremendous increase in need this past year. Serving children ages 0-3 with diapers, formula and baby food as its core distribution focus, the program distributed more than 475,000 diapers, 12,500 containers of formula and nearly 1,500 infant food packs to 15,015 children.

CenteringPregnancy is a unique, evidence-based model of client-centered group prenatal care that provides health assessment, education and social support. Eight to 12 women with similar gestational ages meet as a group, receiving dedicated time with a medical provider and health facilitator to learn care skills, develop a support network and ensure access to prenatal care built upon trusted relationships. The program served 670 pregnant women this fiscal year and continues to be one of the most effective models of prenatal care to reduce the rate of preterm and low weight babies, while nearly eliminating racial disparities in birth outcomes.

The Caps & Cribs Teen Mom Mentoring Program remains accredited through the National Quality Mentoring System by MENTOR, providing an evidence-based acknowledgment of the strong standards, safety and efficacy of the Caps & Cribs program. This program is a one-on-one mentor program that supports the educational, life, career, and parenting goals of teen mothers in Palm Beach County. Volunteer mentors are matched with pregnant or parenting teens in high schools and provide guidance, inspiration, and real-life experience in a trusting environment to empower teens to become independent, self-sufficient young mothers and to support the elimination of repeat pregnancies.

Circle of Moms, a maternal wellness program, is designed to support the one in five women who will experience mood and anxiety disorders before, during and after pregnancy. Through peer-to-peer support groups, care coordination and training for health professionals, this program aims to bridge the gap in maternal mental health services in our community. This year, 480 women and families participated in Circle of Moms. During this same period, training on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders was provided to 952 health professionals. The Organization remains the only Share Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support Chapter in Palm Beach County, providing a resource for grieving parents and their loved ones who have experienced the tragic death of a baby through pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or in the first few months of life.

Stronger Together, a birthing and postpartum doula training and certification program for Black women is focused on reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in women of color, while building a workforce of Black doulas in Palm Beach County. In its second year, the program certified 11 Black doulas and trained 18 who maintained advocacy relationships with 53 Black clients during childbirth and postpartum support.

The Organization's free Education Program for pregnant and parenting families focused on topics like breastfeeding, newborn care, infant/child CPR, prenatal yoga, and childbirth classes. The program is designed to offer critical education to parents and caregivers and workshops are taught by trained staff, as well as partner agencies throughout the community. 145 classes were held this fiscal year both in person and virtually, and served 1,375 participants. Furthermore, a breastfeeding consultation program served lactation counseling needs of postpartum women.Postpartum Care Coordination was recently added which provides health care navigation and education on postpartum care, also referred to as the fourth trimester, to ensure postpartum women have a primary care provider and pediatric care established for their infant, as well as needed payor sources. In its first full year, the program served 251 postpartum clients.Additional program support at the Organization is used to focus on program development and enhancements, quality assurance, fund development efforts and other administrative needs to further the mission of the agency.