Healthy Women, Healthy Futures

For an agency like CAP, whose core strategy to breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty is early childhood education, the health of each child we serve is critically important. Research shows that when babies are born premature or underweight, they have higher risk for negative health outcomes throughout their entire lives. The major risk factors for prematurity, low birthweight, and infant mortality, are related to the health of the mom even before she becomes pregnant, and include pre-pregnancy obesity, poor nutrition, stress, smoking, alcohol, drugs, lack of exercise, and chronic illness like diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, and depression.

To help combat this issue, CAP teamed with the Family Health Coalition, the OU College of Nursing and the George Kaiser Family Foundation to develop and launch Healthy Women, Healthy Futures (HWHF), an interconceptional (between pregnancies) health program for moms with children enrolled at select CAP early childhood sites. HWHF seeks to improve the physical, emotional, social, dental, and vision health of non-pregnant women living in poverty in order to reduce premature and low birthweight births and infant mortality. The program is currently serving nearly 100 women who have children enrolled at Frost, McClure Skelly, and Educare I early childhood education sites. The vast majority of the women do not have health insurance.

The goal of the program is to increase the likelihood of healthy future births by helping women practice healthy behaviors, including developing a pregnancy plan that involves healthy pregnancy spacing. Classes address the benefits of exercise, cardiovascular wellness, diabetes prevention, nutrition, healthy shopping and cooking, pregnancy plan development, yoga, Zumba, and others.

HWHF and its partners also provide:

No or low cost on-going basic health care
An individualized health plan, developed with participants, to prevent or manage chronic illnesses
Support and assistance in women’s interconception health by a Health Navigator (case manager)
No cost vision exams and glasses, if needed
Medicines at no cost
Dental care
Counseling for mental health issues
RNs and Health Navigators act as wellness coaches to support women with their health plans

For more information contact Monica Barczak, Director of Innovation Lab, at (918) 382-3265.

Healthy Women, Healthy Futures flyer

Click here for Healthy Women, Healthy Futures at OU