Baby Basics Overview

Baby Basics: one program, hundreds of thousands of stronger moms and babies

Baby Basics helps put everyone “on the same page”—from physician and staff, to patient and families—and strengthens the delivery of prenatal care, education and support to vulnerable populations.

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The goals of the program are:

  • TO PROVIDE underserved families prenatal materials that are not only beautiful, comprehensive and easy to read, but also serve as a catalyst for learning and family literacy
  • TO EMPOWER, engage and educate underserved parents so that they become effective users of the healthcare system and can advocate for themselves and their families
  • TO TEACH healthcare providers and educators how to use health literacy and cultural competency tools and strategies to improve patient communication and compliance
  • TO BUILD community initiatives so families receive integrated, coordinated prenatal and parenting messages

First, we created a book, Baby Basics: Your Month By Month Guide To A Healthy Pregnancy, designed specifically to provide lower-income and lower-literacy populations with crucial prenatal health information and support. It has since grown from a book, to a program, to an overall healthcare philosophy.  Baby Basics is revolutionizing the prenatal experience and outcome for families in need—one clinic, one mom, one baby at a time.

Today, there are more than 11 active Baby Basics programs across the country, and each year, more than 250 health care providers purchase the Baby Basics book to use with their patients.