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With the guiding conviction that every baby deserves an equal chance at a healthy birth and life, Stronger Generations-an initiative of BWH's Center for Community Health and Health Equity (CCHHE)-is working to improve the lives of Boston families by supporting parents and babies before, during and after pregnancy.
Despite 50 years of improvements in infant mortality, a stark black-white gap remains unchanged. Babies born to black women in Boston are nearly three times as likely to die in the first year compared to babies born to white women. Additionally, babies born at low birth weights are at an increased risk for poor academic and health outcomes, including chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, later in life.
"By giving every baby a healthy start at birth, Stronger Generations is committed to ensuring that every member of the BWH community is on the best possible trajectory toward lifelong health," said Maisha Douyon Cover, MPH, manager for Family and Community Health in the CCHHE. "Health at birth is the foundation for good health. If we're serious about improving birth outcomes and the health of our community, we need to start ensuring women have access to quality health care before their first pregnancy and continue providing consistent, coordinated and culturally compassionate care throughout their lives."
In collaboration with providers, community health centers, state agencies and other community-based organizations, Stronger Generations provides parents and families with important components of good health, including prenatal care, family planning, case management services, advocacy and stress reduction programs. It also connects parents with community resources to strengthen their own health and support positive parenting.
Fostering social support among parents and families is equally important. Stronger Generations recently hosted a fatherhood forum, in which Gabriel Fonseca, MS, the Healthy Beginnings-Fatherhood coordinator at MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center, shared the importance of fatherhood engagement with BWH attendees. He shed light on the ways in which clinicians can involve and engage fathers throughout their children's life course and the benefits that a child receives from that engagement.
Stronger Generations also harnesses the power of social media among young people-specifically Twitter, Facebook and Instagram-to reach expectant and new parents and help them connect with one another. Regular Twitter chats led by the CCHHE's Natasha Vianna give young parents a forum to share their feelings, frustrations and successes.
The initiative's Young Parent Ambassador Program, launched in April 2013, is yet another way Stronger Generations is supporting young parents. The program educates and trains young parents as ambassadors in the areas of advocacy, leadership and public health, with a focus on healthy births and eliminating health disparities. Ambassadors support CCHHE staff in their programming efforts, while undergoing a personal development program that focuses on building essential professional skills. The ambassadors also support one another at weekly meetings and outside of BWH, and help plan the annual Summit for Teen Empowerment, Progress, and Parenting Success (STEPS), which was held on June 26 at Northeastern University.
View the video above to learn more about three young parent ambassadors. To learn more about Stronger Generations, visit www.brighamandwomens.org/communityprograms.