The Story of Healthy Start
Funded in Southern Oregon from 1997 until 2024.
Healthy Start is an ongoing federal grant program aimed at improving health outcomes for women, infants, and their families. This program looks at many different health issues, but the overarching goal is to reduce infant mortality and maternal mortality. While funded, Healthy Start of Southern Oregon aimed to reduce these rates through community-based services for women, infants and their families. The Health Care Coalition of Southern Oregon partnered with local agencies to provide high risk families with direct client services before, during and after pregnancy. Families enrolled in our programs typically lived in rural areas, had limited access to care, and sometimes experienced other risk factors such as cultural or geographic isolation, housing instability, food insecurity, substance use, or lack of support from their families.
View a snapshot of the program
The program is funded through a federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
“It’s been a wonderful help, having a child that has extra needs due to health, life is crazy. Having someone help find you resources and just check in takes a lot of stress off your shoulders.”
– Healthy Start Client, 2023
What is Infant Mortality?
Infant mortality is the death of an infant before his or her first birthday. The infant mortality rate is based on the number of infant deaths for every 1,000 live births. In addition to giving us key information about maternal and infant health, the infant mortality rate is an important marker of the overall health of a society.
What is Maternal Mortality?
Maternal mortality, or pregnancy-related death, is defined as the death of a woman during pregnancy or within one year of the end of pregnancy from a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy. The death of a woman during pregnancy, at delivery, or soon after delivery is a tragedy for her family and for society as a whole.
Who is Impacted?
Communities of color are disproportionately affected by infant and maternal mortality. Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women – and this disparity increases with age.
What’s the Cause?
Infant mortality and maternal mortality rates are not simply the result of personal health, family history, or accidents. These are complex health issues that are impacted by things like income, access to high-quality healthcare, affordable housing, family support, nutrition, community safety, availability of child care, exposure to pollutants, education, employment opportunities, and the many other parts of our lives that can have an impact on our health and well-being. These are “social determinants of health.”
Social Determinants of Health
Economic Stability
- income
- employment
- debts
- expenses
- child care
Education
- literacy
- language
- early childhood education
- computer skills
- internet access
- vocational training
- higher education
Food
- hunger
- regular access to healthy food
- ability to feed your family
Health Care
- health insurance
- quality of care
- provider availability
- health care provided in your native language
- health care close by
Social & Community Context
- support systems
- community engagement
- social activities
- welcoming to newcomers
Neighborhood & Environment
- housing
- safety
- transportation availability
- parks
- walkability
- playgrounds
“The staff are very welcoming, friendly and non-judgemental. It feels like a safe and inclusive environment. Although I am somewhat new, I have had a great experience so far.”
– Healthy Start Client, 2023
Here are a few other key areas of community health we look at in Southern Oregon:
Food Security
Food security is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.”
Unemployment
Our area’s unemployment rate continues to regularly exceed the state rate.
Poverty Status
Both Douglas and Josephine counties experienced higher poverty rates than Oregon and the U.S. Over one in four children in the region live in poverty.
Maternal Smoking
Our region has experienced alarmingly high rates of maternal tobacco use. Women who smoke when pregnant have a far higher incidence of low birthweight babies than do nonsmokers. Smoking during pregnancy has also been linked with the following health risks:
- Problems with the placenta
- Premature birth
- Birth defects
- Low birth weight
- Pregnancy loss
Smoking during pregnancy can also increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), colic, asthma, and childhood obesity.
“The staff are very welcoming, friendly and non-judgemental. It feels like a safe and inclusive environment. Although I am somewhat new, I have had a great experience so far.”
– Healthy Start Client, 2023
How did Healthy Start Make an Impact?
As a program, we looked at many different social determinants of health to gain a better understanding of the trends in our region that were impacting the health and well-being of women, infants, and their families.
The information in our Welcome Baby Resources are all tied to aspects of infant and maternal health that have big impacts on improving health disparities and represent goals of the Healthy Start program, including:
- Insurance, Well Visits, and other preventative care
- Family Planning
- Parent Education
- Infant Safety
- Mental Health & Substance Use Treatment
- Child Development
And because we constantly gathered important data related to our program goals, we were able to see the positive impacts of the Healthy Start program on the families we served throughout Southern Oregon.
“I feel supported, through and through. I have resources and someone to call always if my husband and I have questions.”
– Healthy Start Client, 2023
Want to learn more?
Learn more about the federal program.
Curious about where these programs are across the country? Check out the Grantee map.
If you are interested in learning more about Infant Mortality Rates, including some of the causes and differences between populations, the CDC’s website will help you learn more.
Oregon by the Numbers is an outgrowth of an online tool (oregonexplorer.info/rural) that helps leaders explore data and statistics about their own communities. In order to serve the needs of Oregon, we need to understand the reality of what is happening across all of our communities. Numbers expose needs. Numbers reveal trends. Numbers track progress. Numbers identify successes. Through data collection and analysis, we can all make better decisions to promote the vitality and livability of Oregon. They help us understand where we need to look, listen and act to make positive differences in our communities.
Health Resources & Services Administration Statement
This web page is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an annual award totaling $1,100,000+. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official of, nor an endorsement by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.