CareFirst Contributes $2.15 Million To Maternal-Child Health
Two-year grants given to 12 health organizations in Md., Northern Va., and Washington, D.C.
Baltimore & Washington, D.C. — CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst), one of the region’s largest health care companies, is investing $2.15 million over the next two years in 12 organizations focused on improving birth outcomes and maternal and child health in Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.
CareFirst’s latest round of funding for moms and their babies will help expand access to care for more than 10,000 underinsured, low-income residents of the region – where infant mortality rates are at all-time lows but still exceed the national average of 5.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births before the child’s first birthday.
For more than a decade, CareFirst has worked with community health providers and other health care organizations to improve maternal and child health in the region. Funding programs and initiatives aimed at the health and safety of mothers and their children is one of CareFirst’s top community giving priorities and is one of the ways the company fulfills its not-for-profit mission to provide affordable and accessible care to the communities it serves.
Including this round of grants, CareFirst has invested more than $20 million since 2007 to initiatives expanding access to care, organizing community resources, supporting expecting moms and addressing factors that contribute to premature births, low birth weight, infant mortality and unsafe sleep.
“Too often, the health care challenges many people face start in their first year of life – or even before they are born,” said CareFirst President and CEO Brian D. Pieninck. “That’s why we’ve made it a priority to improve the health of our members and others in the communities we serve at every step and stage of their lives. Through this support, we believe we can help make a dramatic difference in the lives of expecting mothers and their children who might not otherwise get the care they need and deserve.”
In Maryland, the infant mortality rate was 6.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2017, the latest data available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The infant mortality rate in Virginia that year was 5.9 deaths, while 7.1 deaths for every 1,000 live births were recorded in Washington, D.C., in 2016.
Organizations receiving grants from CareFirst during this round of funding responded to a request for proposals the company issued in December 2018 and include:
- Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation, which received $100,000 to support staff training, doula services and prenatal care;
- CCI Health and Wellness, a federally qualified health center planning to use its $200,000 grant to offer prenatal care including group care prenatal services, postpartum depression services, and substance use services;
- Chesapeake Health Care, which received $250,000 to expand obstetrical services addressing prenatal care and substance use services to more than 3,000 patients on Maryland’s Eastern Shore;
- Community of Hope, a federally qualified health center that received $250,000 to offer prenatal care, home visits and postpartum depression services in D.C.;
- Mamatoto Village, a D.C. perinatal family support organization that received $200,000 to provide home visits and breastfeeding and birth spacing consultative services;
- Mary’s Center, which received $200,000 to expand prenatal care including group care prenatal services, substance use services and postpartum depression treatment to mothers in Prince George’s County;
- MedStar Washington Hospital Center, which plans to use its $150,000 grant to expand access to prenatal care for its patients;
- Neighborhood Health, a group of clinics in Northern Virginia that received $300,000 to launch a new prenatal care programs for more than 1,300 expecting mothers in Alexandria, Va.;
- Northern Virginia Family Service, which received $150,000 to expand perinatal services for postpartum depression;
- Pregnancy Aid Center, a women’s health clinic in Prince George’s County that received $50,000 for prenatal care, breast feeding support and birth spacing consultative services;
- Prince George’s County Health Department, which received $150,000 to expand prenatal care, home visits and breastfeeding consultative services; and,
- St. Mary’s County Health Department, which received $150,000 to expand prenatal care and home visits to expecting mothers in need of substance use services.
B’More for Healthy Babies, the Baltimore City Health Department initiative that has helped lower the city’s infant mortality rate from 13.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2009 to 8.7 deaths in 2017, was not eligible to participate in this request for proposals, because CareFirst has already contributed more than $9.6 million to B’More for Healthy Babies since it launched 10 years ago.
Learn more about CareFirst’s funding priorities, including maternal and child health, on the CareFirst Community website.
About CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
In its 82nd year of service, CareFirst, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a not-for-profit health care company which, through its affiliates and subsidiaries, offers a comprehensive portfolio of health insurance products and administrative services to 3.2 million individuals and groups in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. In 2018, CareFirst invested $38 million to improve overall health, and increase the accessibility, affordability, safety and quality of health care throughout its market areas. To learn more about CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, visit our website at www.carefirst.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.