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Winston-Salem, NC -- Forsyth Medical Center plans to use a grant from the Duke Endowment to enhance its prenatal services to Hispanic women and reach expectant mothers before they - and their babies - experience health problems. The endowment has committed $105,354 for the first year of a 3-year grant totaling $297,592 to fund a pilot program that, among other services, will help bridge the language barrier between mothers and caregivers.

The program will operate through Today's Woman Health and Wellness Center in Winston-Salem and will support a group of certified Hispanic volunteers, called Doulas, and a full-time bilingual Outreach Health Advisor who wil lprovide in-home visits, case management and social support for all pregnant Hispanic patients. The program will also include education programs and materials in Spanish, as well as training for staff in the Spanish language and culture.

"We have been concerned for some time that many of our Hispanic patients start prenatal care late in pregnancy or miss several months of care during pregnancy," says Nydia Harter, director of nursing for the Sara Lee Center for Women's Health at Forsyth Medical Center. "More than half of the Hispanic women we have cared for began prenatal care after the first trimester. Lack of prenatal care can lead to a higher risk for infections, as well as poor weight gain and anemia, both signs of poor nutrition. We are committed to providing high quality medical care combined with supportive nurturing services to all the women we serve at Today's Woman."

According to US Census Bureau figures for the year 2000, Forsyth County has the fourth-highest Hispanic popuation in North Carolina, behind Mecklenburg, Wake and Cumberland counties. About one third of this populatoin are Hispanic women of childbearing age. A survey of births at Forsyth Medical Center's Sara Lee Center for Women's Health shows a steady increase in births to Hispanic women over the past four years. In 2001, 17 percent of the births at Forsyth were to Hispanic women.

Today's Woman Health and Wellness Center is an extension of Forsyth Medical Center. It opened in 1995 with the goal of reducing infant mortality rates and premature births in Forsyth County. Today's Woman is located in a Winston-Salem neighborhood wiht the highest incidence of infant mortality in Forsyth County. In the past four years, the center has seen an increase in the number of Hispanic patients. In 1997 less than one percent of Today's Woman patients were Hispanic. In 2001, that number increased to 10 percent of the total populatoin and 18.6 percent of prenatal patients. In addition to prenatal care, Today's Woman also offers primary and pediatric care, birth control, sexually transmitted disease and HIV testing and treatment, mentoring and home visits, as well as a number of health education classes.

"The doctors, nurses and health educators of Today's Woman Health and Wellness Center have established a tradition of working to reach the Hispanic community through interpreters as well as Spanish-language education classes and materials," says Dee Smith, president of the Forsyth Medical Center Foundation. "Now, with support from the Duke Endowment, the center can take its efforts a step further by going to the patient's homes, and providing social as well as medical support. We feel this program will have a lasting effect on the health of mothers and babies across Forsyth County."

The Forsyth Medical Center Foundation, established in 1999, is the fundraising arm of the hospital. The Foundation works to support the hospital's mission to improve the health of the community, one person at a time.