Inventory of Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) for Healthy Start Programs
Evidence-based practices include actions, activities, strategies, or approaches that improve the health of women, before, during, and after pregnancy in order to improve birth outcomes and give infants up to age two years a healthy start. Also included in the collection are informational materials and tools that make it easier to implement evidence-based practices. To search by title, use the main search box located at the top of this page.
Often referred to as “The Fourth Trimester,” the weeks after birth are a critical time for a woman and her infant, setting the stage for long-term health and well-being. This comprehensive toolkit, with an introduction by Dr. Haywood Brown, includes extensive resources on the key components of postpartum care, including support for new mothers, reproductive life planning, infant care, counseling for substance use, long-term weight management, and many more pertinent topics. It also features a sample postpartum checklist for women to complete.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Breastfeeding Chronic Disease Depression Healthy Weight Immunization Intimate Partner Violence Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Safe Sleep Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Intimate Partner Violence Perinatal Depression Follow Up Perinatal Depression Screening Postpartum Visit Reproductive Life Plan Safe Sleep Smoking Abstinence Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
An in-person and telephone-based counseling program for pregnant African-American women with the goal of reducing behavior-related risk factors during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. In addition to receiving standard prenatal care, pregnant women attend an average of four behavioral counseling sessions during pregnancy and one session after giving birth. The intervention significantly reduced health risks from baseline to 10 weeks postpartum. Early results from a study evaluating the program’s impact on birth weight and infant mortality are encouraging.
Topics:
Depression Intimate Partner Violence Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Perinatal Depression Follow Up Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
