A Healthy Start to pregnancy begins with the provider

A woman's first prenatal care visit can impact her entire pregnancy- among the vital information obtained is guidelines on having a healthy pregnancy. The Florida Healthy Start program assists women in this effort by offering a prenatal risk screening through the provider during the first prenatal office visit. These risk screenings are not conducted frequently if the provider does not understand the program or the screening process. Trainings were conducted with prenatal care providers across two counties to increase understanding about Healthy Start. Prior to the trainings, a pre-assessment was conducted to gauge knowledge of providers who currently conducted screenings. Following the training was a post-assessment where providers identified new information they learned. An unmatched pre-post comparison was conducted, and prenatal risk screening rates for each county were examined for two years before and after the trainings. Overwhelmingly, providers indicated that they had learned something new at the training. In particular, providers who completed both assessments indicated that they had learned a great deal about specific risk factors that qualify a patient for Healthy Start program services. Screening rates following the trainings also improved dramatically- both counties saw at least a 20% improvement in the year following the trainings. By ensuring that providers have the knowledge necessary to identify risks to a healthy pregnancy, the overall health of the community will improve. This can be achieved through offering regular trainings and refresher courses to prenatal care providers, and through legislation that mandates a screening be conducted for each pregnant patient.