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STAMFORD’S HEALTH DEPARTMENT RECEIVES AN $18,000 GRANT FROM THE MARCH OF DIMES The City of Stamford is one of seven recipients statewide of the March of Dimes 2008 Connecticut Chapter Community Grants. The March of Dimes is a nonprofit organization that works to prevent premature births, birth defects and infant mortality. The $18,000 one-year grant will fund visits from Stamford’s Mobile Medical Healthcare Vehicle to the City’s South End and East and West Side neighborhoods. Health Department personnel will offer free preconception educational information, health care screenings and referrals to Stamford Hospital’s OB/GYN Clinic and Optimus Healthcare Clinics for pregnancy and prenatal care for low income mothers and mothers-to-be. This project addresses the March of Dimes funding priority of increasing access to health care and/or prevention services to help reduce disparities in preterm births. The March of Dimes (MOD) mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Mayor Malloy vigorously supports this outreach opportunity, noting that: “By placing the Mobile Medical Van in Stamford’s low income neighborhoods on a regular basis, women who might not travel for health care are more likely to utilize the van for prenatal education, screenings and OB/GYN clinic referrals. It is important that all women in our City have access to appropriate, culturally sensitive prenatal health care so that they adopt basic healthy practices that will ensure their safety and well being as well as that of their babies.” The goal of prenatal care is to monitor the progress of a pregnancy to identify problems early on, before they become serious concerns to mother and/or baby. “Pregnant women in our low income neighborhoods are more prone than women in other Stamford areas to deliver premature babies, babies with low birth weights and babies with birth defects,” noted Dr. Johnnie A. Lee, Stamford’s Director of Health and Social Services. “We are very fortunate to have the Mobile Medical Health Care Vehicle available as a health care outreach tool for our community. To be able to implement a healthy mom/healthy baby program utilizing the Mobile Medical Van adds another important dimension to our Department’s goal of connecting all residents to the health care services they so desperately need.” | Beginning this spring the Mobile Medical Van will reach out to the community three times a week to visit the targeted neighborhoods. Notice of the Van’s schedule and locations will be distributed to local churches, community centers, schools, supermarkets, daycare centers and libraries. A Public Health Nurse and a Bilingual Outreach Worker will offer March of Dimes prenatal care educational materials to men as well as women. Echoing the title of one of their brochures, “Men Have Babies Too,” fathers will be encouraged to participate in their babies’ lives as early as possible. They will be given the opportunity to view videotapes, read books about pregnancy, child rearing and healthy baby practices as well as being a support person for the baby’s mother. Both mother and father will be encouraged to attend childbirth education classes together so they both have an understanding of what labor and delivery will entail. The Mobile Van will be equipped with supplies of prenatal vitamins containing folic acid, which will be dispensed free of charge to women planning to become pregnant as well as women who are presently pregnant. According to Millie Tassinari, the Stamford Public Health Nurse who will administer the grant program, “Folic acid, a form of vitamin B, is found in enriched grains, leafy vegetables and orange juice. It assists in producing the extra blood cells needed during a woman’s pregnancy.” Women should take at least 400 micrograms of folic acid daily before and during pregnancy to prevent their babies from having neural-tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida. A baby’s neural tube later becomes its brain and spinal cord. For more information on pregnancy, childbirth and healthy prenatal practices, please see The March of Dimes website: www.marchofdimes.com.
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