Prenatal Risk Screening
The Healthy Start Prenatal Risk Screening is a short questionnaire that will help find if there is anything about your health, current living arrangements, or everyday activities that could cause problems for you or your baby before and after birth.
You complete it with your health care provider or a Healthy Start case manager in a private setting. The answers to the questionnaire will be kept confidential. They will only be used to help provide you the best possible care.
After the completion of the questionnaire points are given to those items (for example: marital status, previous pregnancies and age), that could affect how your baby grows and develops.
Based on your score and discussion with your health care provider, you can decide whether you would like the extra help of the Healthy Start Program. The program is completely voluntary. You will not lose any current services if you decide not to participate.
If you decide to join the Healthy Start Program a Care Coordinator will contact you to explain the results of the screening and answer your questions. They will follow you through out the pregnancy in order to provide support and link you to needed services.
Infant (Postnatal) Risk Screening
The Healthy Start Infant Risk Screening is completed for every newborn in the state. It is also a short questionnaire designed to identify anything that could affect your baby?s growth and development during the first years of life.
Once again, the answers to these questions are strictly confidential and the program is completely voluntary. If you decide to have your baby participate in Healthy Start then a care coordinator will contact you to explain the results of the screening and answer any questions.
She will talk with you about any special needs you or your baby might have and help you to find services in your area. She will also give you the name and number of a person you can call if you have any questions or need help in the future.
