GRANT COUNTY EXPANDS FIRST BORN PROGRAM Daryl T. Smith, MPH Public Health Educator

    The Border Health Office has been providing funding to Gila Regional Medical Center’s Family Health Link Program since February 1995.  This was the beginning of Community Health Advisor (promotora or CHA) services in Grant County, and these services have continued since then.  Over the past four plus years, the CHA program based in Silver City has changed its focus several times according to the needs identified by residents of Grant County.
    As of October 1998 their new focus has concentrated on the first born program.  This program was initiated in October 1996, through funding by New Mexico Child, Youth and Families Department (CYFD), and later by the Grant County Maternal and Child health Council (MCH).  As a result of a comprehensive community needs assessment conducted in 1997-98, it was decided to supplement the First Born Program with funding provided by the Border Health Office and utilizing the CHA to expand the program’s outreach capabilities.
    The First Born Program targets first-time parents, preferably in their third trimester of pregnancy or at the infants birth.  They are often made by obstetricians, family physicians, pediatricians, and the Families First program, but also by many other service providers in Grant County.  This program is unique in that most of the services provided to the families occur in their own residence; thus eliminating many of the common barriers associated with accessing resources such as transportation and child care.  Additional services are coordinated with the medical community and social service agencies to prevent any unnecessary duplication of services.
    Just to quickly demonstrate the effectiveness of such a program, as of December 31, 1998, the following are some of the highlights of their first three months of work:

     • 98% of the infants in their program have current immunizations
        (one mother chose not to immunize her child)
     • 100% of the infants are receiving well baby checks
     • 100% of infants are achieving normal growth and development
     • 84% of the families have eliminated tobacco smoke from their infant’s environment
     • 98% of the infants are transported in a safe and approprate carseat
     • 100% of the mothers (or future mothers) are receiving routine pre and postnatal care

    The most important aspect of this program is that it focuses on prevention through education.  With weekly home visits beginning in the last three months of pregnancy and continuing for three years, the home visitor is able to detect anything unusual in the infant’s physical growth and/or cognitive development, and coordinate service accordingly,  In many cases, this early detection could prevent more serious complications from ever occurring.  In addition, a great deal of trust is developed between the parents and the home visitor and thus many other concerns (both infant and parental) may be addressed through this constant interaction.
 In conclusion, congratulations to Grant County!  This is a great program that will produce healthy families and healthy communities, and will hopefully be modeled in many other communities both along the border and throughout the state.

For more information contact Daryl Smith at (505) 528-5151
 
 

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