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Maternal and infant health indicators reflect the overall health of a community. Between 2003-2004 over one-third of pregnant women in North Central Brooklyn received late or no prenatal care. Infants born in this community were 1.4 times more likely to be born at low birth weight and bear 1.5 times the risk of death in their first year of life compared to New York City as a whole.
Healthy Start Brooklyn (HSB) provides and coordinates services to address the complex health and social problems associated with low birth weight, high infant mortality, and disparities in perinatal outcomes. The project, made possible with federal grant funding that is administered through the Fund for Public Health in New York (FPHNY), collaborates with existing State, City and community-based initiatives and with community providers to enhance perinatal services and outcomes.
A major component of HSB is outreach and case management to women and their families during their prenatal and interconceptional periods. Currently, over 700 women and families in North Central Brooklyn are receiving case management services. Activities focus on improving parent-child relationships, providing access to healthcare, improving self-sufficiency and family relationships. The other core components of HSB are community health education, education and training to health care providers about perinatal depression, forging community partnerships and collaborations, and monitoring and evaluation program activities to ensure the most is being done to improve the perinatal status of women and infants in North Central Brooklyn.
In August 2007, Healthy Start Brooklyn received a Community Service Award from the Office of the Kings County District Attorney for their extraordinary work in the community.
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