Prenatal care saves babies; protect funding
To the editor:
1,912 infants in Florida did not survive to celebrate their first birthday in 1990. That same year, 5,341 women received no prenatal care, and an additional 8,567 women in Florida did not receive prenatal care until their third trimester. The correlation between early and consistent prenatal care and infant survival is undeniable. The Center for Disease Control identifies lack of prenatal care as one of the leading causes of infant mortality. In 1991, the Florida Legislature recognized the crisis in our state and created the Healthy Start Program to address the problems. For the past 19 years, your community Healthy Start Coalition has worked collaboratively in the community to reduce infant mortality 55 percent in southwest Florida.
The 2010 legislative session may put an end to the network of Healthy Start Coalitions operating across the state of Florida. The House Budget includes a provision to eliminate funding for Healthy Start Coalitions and shift the dollars to county health departments. This drastic proposal will increase program costs, eliminate the millions of dollars brought to the table by Healthy Start Coalitions from other sources, and dramatically decrease local decision-making to provide the best service for your community.
Today, 30 Healthy Start Coalitions cover 64 of the 67 counties in Florida. These Coalitions remove barriers to health care and effectively promote healthy outcomes for babies. 25 of the 67 county health departments do not provide prenatal care, but the Healthy Start Coalitions have established unique public/private provider networks to ensure ALL pregnant women have access to care.
A change in delivery of these services will mean the loss of millions of additional dollars. In one year alone, our state Coalitions raised $32 million from other funding sources which was used to support projects specially targeted to meet the needs of their communities, such as gestational diabetes education and our Interconceptional Care Pilot Program here in southwest Florida.
By increasing access to care, Healthy Start prevents maternal and child health issues that are not only devastating, but costly. First year medical costs alone for premature babies are approximately 10 times more than for a full term infant.
Our system of providing help to mothers-to-be works, and every year almost 17,000 women and babies in southwest Florida alone can attest to it. It is important that your legislators know how you feel on this issue, and I hope that you stand with us in our mission to save babies lives.
David Yates
President of the Board of Directors Healthy Start Coalition of Southwest Florida, Inc.