Delta Health Partners


Mississippi Healthy Start

Benefits in Terms of the Program's Purpose and Goals in 2006
Mississippi Healthy Start is pursuing its mission by establishing a comprehensive, coordinated and culturally sensititive system of care that is accessible to women and their infants. Specifically, the project's goals are to reduce infant mortality, low birth weight and pre-maturity by:

  1. Using a case management team model of a registered nurse and social worker to provide outreach and referral to needed services, high risk case management during pregnancy and health education to all program participants, including pregnant and interconceptional teens and women, and their infants.
    Progress: Staff served 171 high risk women and infants, making 934 home visits.
  2. Developing a minimum of six school-based health education programs for students, teachers and families.
    Progress: The project exceeded its goal of 6 school-based programs by operating in 9 schools, providing health education to 2967 school children, teachers and families.
  3. Establishing three new or expanded Medicaid funded Perinatal High Risk Management/Infant Services System (PHRM/ISS) programs for high-risk prenatal and postpartum teens and women and their infants.
    Progress: The project made limited progress expanding PHRM/ISS services by case managing 4 Medicaid clients under contract with the Mississippi State Department of Health in Clarksdale and Hollandale.
  4. Instituting a Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) program in the project area.
    Progress: The project worked in partnership with Title V and two hospital systems, Northwest Mississippi Medical Center in Clarksdale and Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville, to establish two working review groups in the project service area.

Outcomes for Case Managed Women and Infants
Women's Health:

  • Medical Homes: 170 of 171 (99%) case managed clients had a medical home
  • Entry into Prenatal Care: 1st Trimester = 73%, 2nd Trimester = 23%, 3rd Trimester = 2%, No Care = 2%
  • Adequacy of Prenatal Care: 22 of 40 (55%) pregnant women received adequate prenatal care
  • Annual Physicals: 83 of 83 (100%) postpartum women received an annual physical
  • Family Planning: 6 of 45 (13%) women became pregnant for a 2nd time, not waiting the recommended 24 months

Pregnancy Birth Outcomes:

  • Very Low Birth Weight: 0 of 28 (0%) singleton infants
  • Low Birth Weight: 2 of 28 (7%) singleton infants
  • Neonatal Infant Mortality: 1 of 30 (0 per 1000 live births) infant deaths from 29 days to 1 year
  • Perinatal Infant Mortality: 0 of 30 (0 per 1000 live births) 0 fetal deaths and 0 deaths from 0 to 7 days

Infant Health:

  • Immunizations: 80 of 80 (100%) infants 0-2 years received state recommended immunizations
  • Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) 132 of 133 (99%) received recommended care

    "Supported in part by project H49MCOO15 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act)"


Progress: The tables and charts below show the change in the State of Mississippi infant mortality rates in comparison to the project service area from 2004 to 2005, the most recent data available. (Source Mississippi State Department of Health Vital Statistics)

Teen Infant Mortality
State Rate
State Teen Rate
State White Teen Rate
State Nonwhite Teen Rate
TC/DHP Teen Rate*
TC/DHP White Teen Rate*
TC/DHP Teen Nonwhite Rate*
Year 2004 9.7 10.6 8.5 12.1 18.2 11.9 19.2
Year 2005 11.4 16.4 10.9 20.2 20.4 13.3 21.4
Percent Change 18 55 28 67 12 12 11
Change in Rate 1.7 5.8 2.4 8.1 2.2 1.4 2.2
Rate = Infant Mortality Rate
TC/DHP = Mississippi Healthy Start Service Area


Infant Mortality
State Rate
State White Rate
State Nonwhite Rate
TC/DHP Rate*
TC/DHP White Rate*
TC/DHP Nonwhite Rate*
Year 2004 9.7 6.1 14.2 13.5 3.1 16.2
Year 2005 11.4 6.6 17 15.2 4.6 18.1
Percent Change 17.5 8 19.7 12.6 48.3 11.7
Change in Rate 1.7 0.5 2.8 1.7 1.5 1.9
Rate = Infant Mortality Rate
TC/DHP = Mississippi Healthy Start Service Area

 

Tougaloo College Ownes Health and Wellness Center
Delta Health Partners
P.O. Box 349 Marks, MS 38646

John Bierma
Director
Phone: (662) 378-7554
Email: jbierma@tougaloo.edu

Felicia T. Whittington
Director
Phone: (601) 977-6179
Email:  fwhittington@tougaloo.edu