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, nearly 8,700 pregnant women completed a Healthy Start Prenatal Risk Screen. Of these, 3,518 women received an individualized prenatal intake. Through a wide variety of programs, the organization has touchpoints with more than 70% 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 experienced 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 422,000 diapers, 7,981 containers of formula and nearly 900 infant food packs to 12,725 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 593 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. During this fiscal year, the organization served 64 teen mothers and their mentors through this program, 14 were seniors and graduated from high school.

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, 317 women participated in Circle of Moms group sessions. During this same period, training on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders was provided to 547 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.The Organization's free Education programs for pregnant and parenting families focused on topics like breastfeeding, newborn care, infant/child CPR, prenatal yoga, and childbirth. 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 1,346 participants. Furthermore, a breastfeeding consultation program served lactation counseling needs of postpartum women.New this past year was the launch of Stronger Together: Doula Support for Black American Women. This birthing and postpartum doula certification program was designed to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality in Black women, who die from childbirth complications at a rate four times that of White women. Our first cohort will graduate in the spring of 2023 after a year-long training and certification which includes the matching of two Black pregnant clients with each doula in training. This match partnership is in place for each clients' prenatal, childbirth and postpartum experience.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.