Delivering Prenatal Education through Community Collaboratives: A Catalyst for Improved Maternity Services and Birth Outcomes

Background:  One strategy to address maternal and infant health disparities is to increase access to prenatal education. Although prenatal education programs have become more frequently used, systematic program evaluations are lacking.

Methods: Three sites (two rural, one urban) participated; each served pregnant low income and minority women. The project included three core components: 1) community collaboratives (bringing together clinical care and community education), 2) prenatal education curriculum, and 3) evaluation of infrastructure and curriculum. “Becoming a Mom” is a bilingual prenatal curriculum designed for a group of pregnant women to learn about having a healthy pregnancy and baby. Data from 2012-2013 was collected at the participant-level through self-reported knowledge assessments and health outcome data from medical chart reviews.

 Results: Participants (N=183) (61% Caucasian, 23% Hispanic, 11% Black) reported improvements from pre/post measures in baby’s brain growth and development (81% to 95%), signs of preterm labor (49% to 83%), and safe sleep (81% to 98%). Health outcomes (n=30) showed improvements including fewer preterm births (10% versus 11% in Kansas), fewer low-birthweight babies (3% versus 7%), and breastfeeding initiation (81% versus 80%). One site increased breastfeeding initiation rates by 10% and lowered infant mortality from 10/1,000 live births to 8.3.

Conclusion: Addressing health disparities through collective impact by integrating state-level programs with local community collaborations is possible and necessary.