1. A Healthy Baby is Worth the Weight Denver Metro and County Presenter Shana Patterson R.D. at 303-436-4641 or shana.patterson@dhha.org Denver Health - Eastside WIC Clinic 501 E. 28th Street Denver, CO 80205

2. Denver & Denver County Statistics, 2002 Population: 562,418 – The six metro surrounding counties: 2.4 million Demographics: 11.1 % African American; 31.7% Hispanic; 2.8% Asian and 1.3% Native American Median Household Income: $39,910 Education: High School, 92.1%; Bachelor’s 35% Live Births: 10,301 Low Birth Weight, Singleton: 811, 7.8% (PRAMS data)

3. Implementation Access to Denver Health surrounding clinics was open, but not all were receptive Several clinics within DH were already using a version of the weight-gain grid or were at least familiar with the tool Other practices, providers, clinics etc, in Denver County were contacted from a list generated by EPSDT

4. Implementation Continued After initial contact, follow-up was done with faxed, Fact Sheet information and mailed demo packets; initial appointments and trainings were scheduled Types of trainings: Group: Grand Rounds for University Hospital; incoming residents rotation; combined-discipline physicians meetings, Practice Managers meetings, etc. ‘Individual’: Clinic settings to include all staff involved in initial and subsequent patient visits

5. Successes The program was implemented in the majority of Denver Health Clinics Heightened awareness of the correlation of adequate prenatal weight gain and LBW with care providers BMI wheels were the ‘magic bullets’ Program initiation in many clinics caused a new/renewed interest in providing a variety of nutrition, health & behavior information to patients Increased networking and communication between clinics and practices

6. Lessons Learned Follow up must be strong and consistent for the program to be successful Persistence is key when interacting with agencies/clinics that are new to you Take whatever time you are given, even if it is only 15 minutes! It is not enough time to train, but it is enough to grab their interest! Be certain you are able to effectively communicate the EASE of this program (see attached ACOG Vs. Grid slides)

7. Contact List Suggestions Local hospitals, clinics, health centers Pregnancy testing centers, Planned Parenthood and Family Planning centers WIC (Women, Infants and Children) MCPN (Metro Community Provider Network Training hospitals and nursing schools Insurance providers Hospitals doing prenatal classes EPSDT (Medicaid) provider listings for counties