Implementation and preliminary evaluation of a community-based prenatal health education program.

Abstract

The Perinatal Center's community-based health education program, known as the Health Express, is designed to provide young, poor, potentially high-risk pregnant women with detailed, physiologically accurate information on fetal growth, methods of minimizing the discomforts of pregnancy, the importance of prenatal nutrition for maximizing infant birthweight, the consequences of substance abuse on fetal development, and preparation for labor and delivery. A major lesson learned is that a mobile health education program can operate successfully in a high-crime, low-income neighborhood. Community residents perceived a need for health education and took advantage of readily available services. Of particular note is the relatively stable attendance of pregnant women in the prenatal health education classes. The low rate of response to the community questionnaire suggests that the Health Express program has not been successful in making its presence known to other agencies. Finally, the comparative analysis of the birth outcomes of a select group of Health Express participants against those of a comparison group of mothers raises questions for future evaluations of Health Express services.