Friday, October 4, 2024
10/4/2024
The Healthy Babies, Strong Families Program with Families Forward Resource Center aims to eliminate health disparities impacting Black and African American families in Metro Denver, Colorado. At the state level, African American and Black Babies in Colorado experience 9.95 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to their white counterparts who experience 3.32 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. African American and Black families also bear an inequitable burden of maternal mortality in Colorado. Between 2016 and 2020, the pregnancy associated mortality ratio for Black birthing people was 104.5 pregnancy-associated deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to white birthing people experiencing 54.3 pregnancy associated deaths per 100,000 live births. These disparities also exist when examining pregnancy related mortality as African American as Black birthing individuals experience 52.2 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births compared to their white counterparts experiencing 25.4 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births. The Maternal Mortality Review Committee determined that approximately 90% of the pregnancy-related deaths were preventable, “meaning that there was at least some chance to avert these deaths through reasonable changes at various levels, such as patient, provider, facility, systems, or community levels.” Each Black infant and maternal loss impacts our community as we collectively grieve individual loss and as we continue to experience the persistent, historical, and generational trauma of a system that collectively fails our community. African American and Black infant mortality data demonstrate geographic inequities as ten Metro Denver ZIP codes account for nearly half of the cases of infant mortality. In fact, African American and Black families who reside in 80011, 80019, 80204, 80220, 80231, 80247, 80017, 80010, 80012, or 80249 experience an infant mortality rate of 12.98 infant deaths per 1,000 live bir ths. The Healthy Babies, Strong Families program supports community members on their reproductive journeys through the provision of direct and enabling services and group based education. Our interdisciplinary team includes the provision of services supported by doulas, community health workers, program coordinators, behavioral health clinicians, group educators, and a fourth-trimester clinical team of pediatricians, neonatologists, lactation consultants, and pelvic floor therapists. Consortium efforts seek to address system-level gaps and barriers that impact maternal and infant health outcomes. Our community needs assessment has resulted in three areas of focus for Consortium efforts including addressing racist and unjust systems, perinatal mental health support, and strengthening peer, community, provider, & village support systems. Our team is committed to creating an implementation plan to reflect activities and measures to address each element of our needs assessment. Our team is dedicated to engaging in continuous quality improvement and program evaluation such that program participants achieve healthy start benchmarks, have positive experience with the program and staff, and cultivate and nurture connections with other participants. We are committed to strengthening our program through these efforts to work towards the elimination of inequities in infant mortality experienced by Black and African American families in Metro Denver.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
