Honey child prenatal education program: A faith-based model designed to reduce health disparities in birth outcomes among African-American women

Objective: To provide an overview of the Honey Child Prenatal Education Program (Honey Child), which provides prenatal education and social support for pregnant African-American women. The overall goals are increased prenatal care knowledge, reduced prenatal stress levels, and improved birth outcomes. Background: The disparity in preterm birth rates of African-American babies in the United States continues to widen. African-American women are twice as likely to deliver prematurely as Caucasian women. Prematurity is the leading cause of death for African-American infants, accounting for over 20% of all African-American infant deaths, compared to 13% of all white infant deaths. Project: In 2006, the March of Dimes, Texas Chapter, partnered with Greater Mount Tabor Christian Center and Rose of Sharon Baptist Church to pilot Honey Child. Honey Child has two core program components: group prenatal education sessions and mentoring. Honey Child uses a spiritual approach to promote prenatal health through interactive group activities as well as individual reflection and spiritual messaging. The Honey Child prenatal curriculum includes six two-hour sessions. Topics include nutrition, stress reduction, prenatal care, self-esteem, preterm labor, and labor and delivery. Successful implementation of Honey Child requires African-American faith-based leadership, involvement, input and ownership. The church provides a trusted site conveniently located within the neighborhood to focus on health promotion. Group facilitators and mentors are drawn from local churches. The program is intended for use by lay facilitators and mentors who have received specialized training from the March of Dimes. The presentation will discuss major successes and lessons learned.