Using Partners for A Healthy Baby to Achieve Program Outcomes

The Virginia Resource Mothers (VRM) is a statewide program that, since 1985, has targeted areas with high ratesof poverty, teen pregnancy, or poor birth outcomes. Since FY 1991, 18,463 pregnant teens have been served. Theprogram’s goals are to improve birth outcomes for pregnant teens and reduce repeat pregnancies. Community healthworkers visit moms weekly during the prenatal period through the child’s first birthday and have bee using the Partnersfor a Healthy Baby curriculum since 1999. Positive birth outcomes have been demonstrated in the program, includingreduced rates of low birth weight babies and repeat pregnancies compared to state rates. In 2006, the rate of LBWdeliveries for Virginia Resource Mother’s teens was 7.7% compared to 10.3% statewide for teens; and in 2007, it was8.9% compared to 10.6% statewide. The rate of repeat pregnancy for VRM teen mothers was 5.1% compared to 20%for teens statewide. In 2008, the majority of teens in the program (81%) were in school, enrolled in training programs,working, or all three; 2.9% were in college; 16% dropped out—which is about half of the national average of 30%.—Virginia Department of Health. (2008). Virginia Resource Mothers Program Annual Report. Richmond, VA: Author.The Stepping Stones Intensive Home Visiting Program is part of the Smart Start Initiative in North Carolina. This childabuse prevention program for adolescent and teen mothers is run by the Cabarrus Health Alliance (the local public healthdepartment) and has been using the Partners for a Healthy Baby curriculum since its inception in 1999. Three speciallytrained registered nurses each serve a case load of about 25 pregnant and parenting teens from pregnancy through thesecond year of life. The program uses the Partners curriculum to provide education about pregnancy, childbirth andearly childhood development; support individual goal setting; model appropriate parent/child interactions; and ensureearly and consistent prenatal care. The major goal of the program is to prevent child abuse and neglect. As reported inMay 2008, the Stepping Stones program has had only one substantiated case of child neglect in the nine years it has beenfunded; 100% of the participants were enrolled in a medical home within six weeks of entry to the program; 100% ofthe children were up-to-date with their immunizations; and 73% of the teens met their education/employment goals.—Stepping Stones Intensive Home Visiting Program. Quarterly Reports 2004–2009. Cabarrus Health Alliance, North Carolina.—Knight, S., & Patterson, J. (2008). “Stepping Stones” Intensive Home Visiting Program for Pregnant and Parenting Teens. Presentation to NorthCarolina Smart Start Conference, May 6, 2008.Miami Adolescent Mothers Project. The goal of this project was to improve maternal interactions and developmentaloutcomes of the children of teen mothers. Researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine investigatedthe impact of short-term, interaction-focused parenting education on maternal behaviors and child development.Selected handouts on ages and stages of development from the Partners for a Healthy Baby curriculum were used inconjunction with project-developed materials. A total of 48 teen mother/child dyads were in the intervention groupand 46 were in the comparison group. The groups met for one hour, twice a week, over a 3-month period for a total of24 sessions. When the groups were compared at post-test, mothers in the intervention group were significantly moreresponsive, less directive, and more facilitative of child language development. Children of mothers in the interventiongroup had significantly higher developmental quotient scores than children of mothers in the contrast group. Resultssupport the use of this targeted intervention with adolescent mothers to enhance nurturing behaviors and responsivenessthat facilitate the language development of their infants and toddlers.—Deutscher, B., Fewell, R. & Gross, M. (2006). Enhancing the interactions of teenage mothers and their at-risk children: Effectiveness of amaternal-focused intervention. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 26(4), 194-205.The Cradle to Classroom Program (CTC). The goal of this Chicago Public Schools collaboration with city andcommunity agencies and local hospitals was to improve teen parenting skills and developmental outcomes for childrenof teen mothers. Weekly home visits were provided using the Partners for a Healthy Baby curriculum and LearningGames.Results of data collected on 748 CTC mothers and children and on a comparison group of 128 children from similarChicago neighborhoods who did not receive the program indicated that at age 36 months, 59% of the comparisongroup and only 9% of the intervention group were classified at increased risk and of special concern on the Agesand Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). Mean scores on the ASQ for the children who received the intervention were wellwithin the normal range, whereas the mean scores for the comparison children were below the cutoff points between4 and 36 months. The difference between mean scores for the groups had a high statistical significance (p < .01) at allmeasurement occasions.—York, V., Sparling, J., & Ramey, C. (2001). Cradle to Classroom Evaluation. Unpublished manuscript.6 Florida State University Partners for a Healthy Baby • www.cpeip.fsu.edu • September 2011