Grant Funds Prenatal Care for Underserved

The Harris County Hospital District received a $78,863 continuation grant from the March of Dimes’ Texas Gulf Coast Chapter to support access to prenatal care for uninsured and underinsured women in northwest Harris County.

The grant will allow the district, through its partnership with Gateway to Care – an organization that helps uninsured residents in Harris County obtain health care services – to continue a prenatal outreach program targeting pregnant women in northwest Harris County. The program teaches women about the importance of prenatal care and helps them obtain services from the hospital district or other health care sources. Lack of prenatal care results in low birth weight and birth defects including blindness and Down syndrome.

Gateway to Care navigators, who are individuals strategically located at hospital district health centers, city clinics and county not-for-profit community centers, will assist pregnant mothers in seeking prenatal care early while encouraging them to take daily vitamins containing adequate folic acid. The program also stresses the importance of breastfeeding and provides health education about the dangers of smoking during pregnancy.

The continuation grant expands on a $99,139 March of Dimes grant made to the hospital district last year.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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