Avera Receives $5.4 Million Grant to Improve Maternal and Infant Health

The new funding will create Avera Bridging Inequities Regionally Through Healthy Start (Avera BIRTHS). The grant was awarded through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Healthy Start Initiative: Eliminating Health Disparities in Perinatal Health.

The geographical target area is 52 South Dakota counties. “Numerous South Dakota counties are ‘maternity deserts’ where access to maternity health care services is limited or absent, either through lack of services or barriers to a woman’s ability to access that care within counties,” McCormack said.

Avera BIRTHS will provide funding to develop, launch and operate a community facing education, social support, and maternity care program from pregnancy to up to 18 months postpartum. “This care pathway for pregnant patients addresses education, medical literacy, culturally appropriate perinatal care, and other services to improve long-term outcomes for both women and infants,” McCormack said.

In addition to project leaders, Avera BIRTHS will be staffed by community-based doulas, a social worker, a dietitian, an advanced practice provider and RN educator.

The Avera BIRTHS grant includes several key partnerships:
• Feeding South Dakota will extend access to clinic-based resources for mothers, children and caregivers who have been identified as food insecure and require care coordination services.
• The Teddy Bear Den will extend access to services including incentives and rewards with mothers in exchange for maintaining healthy lifestyles. The Den rewards mothers with points for promoting healthy habits for themselves and their babies, such as attending health care appointments; avoiding smoking, drinking or using drugs; attending well-baby checkups; and getting immunizations for their babies. Mothers can use these points to purchase items for their families, like clothing, breastfeeding supplies, and safe sleep items, such as cribs and sleep sacks.
• Avera Community Health Resource Center in Sioux Falls will provide group-based education classes that are culturally specific. This center serves several unique and diverse populations that experience adverse maternal health outcomes. Staffed by seven Community Health Workers (CHWs), each representative of their target population, the center provides outreach to immigrant residents of Sioux Falls.

Avera Research Institute has received a five-year, $5.4 million grant through the federal Healthy Start initiative to reduce infant mortality through services that foster healthy pregnancy and continued support after childbirth.

The new funding will create Avera Bridging Inequities Regionally Through Healthy Start (Avera BIRTHS). The grant was awarded through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Healthy Start Initiative: Eliminating Health Disparities in Perinatal Health.

The geographical target area is 52 South Dakota counties. “Numerous South Dakota counties are ‘maternity deserts’ where access to maternity health care services is limited or absent, either through lack of services or barriers to a woman’s ability to access that care within counties,” McCormack said.

Avera BIRTHS will provide funding to develop, launch and operate a community facing education, social support, and maternity care program from pregnancy to up to 18 months postpartum. “This care pathway for pregnant patients addresses education, medical literacy, culturally appropriate perinatal care, and other services to improve long-term outcomes for both women and infants,” McCormack said.

In addition to project leaders, Avera BIRTHS will be staffed by community-based doulas, a social worker, a dietitian, an advanced practice provider and RN educator.

The Avera BIRTHS grant includes several key partnerships:

·         Feeding South Dakota will extend access to clinic-based resources for mothers, children and caregivers who have been identified as food insecure and require care coordination services.

·         The Teddy Bear Den will extend access to services including incentives and rewards with mothers in exchange for maintaining healthy lifestyles. The Den rewards mothers with points for promoting healthy habits for themselves and their babies, such as attending health care appointments; avoiding smoking, drinking or using drugs; attending well-baby checkups; and getting immunizations for their babies. Mothers can use these points to purchase items for their families, like clothing, breastfeeding supplies, and safe sleep items, such as cribs and sleep sacks.

·         Avera Community Health Resource Center in Sioux Falls will provide group-based education classes that are culturally specific. This center serves several unique and diverse populations that experience adverse maternal health outcomes. Staffed by seven Community Health Workers (CHWs), each representative of their target population, the center provides outreach to immigrant residents of Sioux Falls.