Healthy Start Evaluation Reports Success
in Retaining Mothers in Care After Giving Birth

Two-thirds of Healthy Start grantees report that about 75 percent of their pregnant clients are still enrolled in the program two years after giving birth, a new evaluation of the program has found. Retention of clients after giving birth is a goal of Healthy Start, because it means that the low-income, predominantly minority mothers and their children who enrolled in the program remain linked to ongoing sources of primary care.

Administered by HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration, the Healthy Start program funds grantees in 99 communities with high rates of infant mortality and limited access to health care; grantees are spread across 38 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Grantees work to reduce rates of infant mortality and health disparities by emphasizing early access to care for pregnant women, continuing care for mothers and their infants, and outreach to the community.

The evaluation, called A Profile of Healthy Start: Findings from Phase I of the Evaluation 2006, also found that:

• 48 percent of grantees enrolled a majority of program participants in their first trimester of pregnancy. Grantees try to get women into prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy or as early as possible, since proper prenatal care can help a mother reduce her baby's risk for health problems.
  
• 99 percent of Healthy Start grantees reported providing home visits to clients. Home visits by outreach workers – who sometimes work out of mobile vans – help staff reach the most at-risk women and encourage them to get care.
  
• 61 percent of grantees offered male involvement services, including support groups, employment assistance, and parenting skills classes. Healthy Start recognizes the importance of a father's involvement in his child's development by preparing men to play a positive role in the lives of participants and their children.
  
• 95 percent of grantees reported providing perinatal depression services to clients. Maternal depression can lead to poor self-care and infant care, and in extreme cases, to suicide. To shed more light on this important topic, HRSA last year published a booklet titled Depression During and After Pregnancy: A Resource for Women, Their Partners, Families and Friends .

A Profile of Healthy Start: Findings from Phase I of the Evaluation 2006 is available on-line. The evaluation was done from information collected from grantees in 2003.

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The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable. HRSA also is responsible for promoting and improving the health of our nation’s women, children and families. For more information about HRSA and its programs, visit www.hrsa.gov.

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