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Sicesweremm§ix|Mi§moregnancy with limited knowledge the county were fully immun-Local health care providers agree that increasing education and improving access to early prenatal care increases She proportion of healthy bhbies. And in a recent move to step up efforts to advance the Shproving statistics in Chaves teounty, the Maternal Child Health Referral program fMCHR) has expanded its mtervention efforts in youth •6utreach.Coordinating local resources, MCHR now provides in-school information and guidance to pregnant studentsAttending, Roswell High Schooldnd University High School. 'Artesid High School is also visited by program officials; u ' Program coordinator D ebbie Organ and her staff of lay health advisors visit the schools twice monthly to .^ddress maternal concerns juid ;jto' provide instruction in nutrition, parental responsibility, and prenatal care. Pregnancy danger signs and qjxpeqtations with growth anddevelopment are also jiiscussed.In addition. Organ said .-women enrolled with the program are provided assistiance with transportation to clinical j appointments and help with j obtaining Medicaid and WIC (Women Infant Children) benefits.“Unfortunately, unwed j teenage women face the great-\ est challenges with their pre-ugnancles,” Organ said. ‘They /must hope for a healthy pre-•vJv *i Isaacs is new^Social Orderb!rand financial resources available to them while struggling to complete their secondary education.“Our aim is to keep these girls in school while promoting maternal child health,” she said.Organ said MCHR implemented school-site services in answer to alarming state statistics which show about 44 percent of New Mexico teens who have babies don’t complete high school. Additionaldata collected report that 43 percent of women receive inadequate prenatal care whileonly 47 percent of children in♦president of of Beauceantized by age two.“The Maternal Child Health Referral program has provided the young mothers of this area a tremendous service by giving them a model approach to follow so their children may have a healthy start in life, said Steve North, an obstetrician with Rio Pecos OB-GYN. He explained that the level of access to early prenatal care has increased by 20 percent since the project started.“Decreasing infant mortality rates, pregnancy and delivery complications and improving the birth weights of children bom in Chaves County are goals common to physicians and families alike, he said.MCHR has served more than 450 women since its inception in February 1993. By the close of 1994. 380 mothers andri h Frances Isaacs has been installed as worthy president of the•Mbabies are programconcerninfants were served by MCHR.Housed in the public health office at. Main and Chisum streets, MCHR operates under the auspices of Family Home-care Services Inc.,. a member of the Chaves County HomeHealth Services network. It is funded by the New Mexico Department of Health and relies on corporate and private donations to meet educational needs.Providing case-finder and case-management services, all MCHR services are free to women who have no pay source for prenatal care or hospitalcare, high-risk Medicaid mothers and first-time mothers receiving Medicaid benefits.“The program works because it simplifies things and draws on existing resources,” Organ said, explaining that the program’s lay health advisors don’t provide medical services but rather support, educate and encourage womento obtain them.A fund-raiser to support the continuing efforts of MCHR will be held at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the Sally Port Inn, 2000 N. Main St. The Mayor’s Beans Combread Celebrity Waiter Luncheon is $25 per person, sold in groups of eight. Corporate tables are available at $200. Monies raised in the effort will go towards the purchase of bilingual education materials and maternal . and infant supplies not covered by Medicaid and indigent funding sources.For more information on the luncheon, contact CCHHS’ community resource department at 625-1857. More information on the MCHR program can be obtained by callingR9 A-fi1 RA
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Roswell Daily Record
Roswell, New Mexico, US
Fri, Feb 10, 1995
Page 40
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