Grantee Profile: Get Ready, Get Set... Pregnancy Preparation and the Harbor Corridor BBC

Most of us think of prenatal care as medical assistance for an actual pregnancy. A woman finds out she is pregnant and then goes to the doctor for a check up. But at the Harbor Corridor Best Babies Collaborative (BBC), a First 5 LA-funded program and part of the Healthy Births Initiative, prenatal care starts even earlier. For the BBC, a healthy pregnancy starts the moment a woman begins thinking about getting pregnant.

From this BBC's perspective, inter-conception care, the technical term for a woman’s pre-pregnancy preparation, has four primary components: an annual physical, three follow up examinations a year, family planning, and dental and mental health. These combined components prepare a woman to be emotionally, psychologically and physically ready to have a baby. And when she gets pregnant and has the child, she continues to be cared for post-birth – all within the seamless referral system between participating agencies.

The model, formalized by Dr. Kristen Koon at St. John's Well Child and Family Center, fills in the gaps of a disjointed insurance system that often leaves disadvantaged women, pre-pregnancy and post-birth, in the lurch. A woman living below the federal poverty level only receives Medi-Cal coverage during her pregnancy. Once the baby is born, that woman is no longer eligible for the insurance and often has no follow up care. In contrast, a woman enrolled in the BBC free clinic system is able to have follow-up visits with her doctor after her child is born.

"If it was not for the Collaborative, there would not be this level of care for women with high risk pregnancies," said James Mangia, Executive Director at St. John's, the collaborative’s lead agency. And many women in the economically-depressed Harbor Corridor are considered high risk due to financial and environmental stress.

Harbor Corridor BBC provides classes, in-home and in-clinic case management, regular health assessments and counseling. Since July 2006, they have served over 7,500 women in the inter-conception care program, and brought on more than 180 clients for more intensive Case Management Services.

To learn more about the Harbor Corridor Best Babies Collaborative go to www.labestbabies.net, or call Patricia Banks, Program Coordinator, at (323) 541-1600.