Lauren Blenker's Colleagues at Healthy Start Coalition
Leilani Laboy
Wowen’s Invention Specialist/ Neonatal Outreach Specialst, WIS/ NOS
Lauren Blenker's Contact Details
Palmetto, Florida
Healthy Start Coalition
Lauren Blenker's Company Details
Under the leadership of the late Governor Lawton Chiles, the Healthy Start initiative was passed by the Florida Legislature in 1991 to ensure that all babies born in the state of Florida are given the opportunity to have a healthy start in life. The stimulus for this legislation was Florida's poor standing on key maternal and infant health indicators of infant mortality, low birth weight, teen pregnancy, and access to prenatal care. Healthy Start's key components are: universal screening of pregnant women and newborns to identify those at risk for poor birth, health and development outcomes; care coordination health education and referral services for those identified at risk; and expansion of Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women and payment to providers. One final key component of the Healthy Start initiative was the establishment of community-based prenatal and infant health care coalitions with a mandate to assess the maternal-child health needs of the community and ensure a system of care for mothers and babies is available. The Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County, Inc. (formerly the Orange County Healthy Start Coalition) was incorporated in 1992 in response to this legislation and has been working ever since to improve birth outcomes for women and infants in Orange County. Our mission statement identifies the scope of our work: "to improve maternal and child health in Orange County through community partnerships". By participating in community initiatives and strongly advocating that preconception and pregnancy are the beginning of a healthy childhood, the work of the HSCOC embodies our belief that "every baby deserves a healthy start".