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From left, Healthy Start of Osceola County Program Supervisor Terrissa Gandy, Healthy Start client Amorye and her son, Executive Director Kerri Stephen and Board of Directors Chair Dr. Rufus Barfield were part of the organization’s annual meeting Dec. 7. PHOTO/KEN JACKSON -
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Healthy Start of Osceola County stands ready to help expecting mothers and parents of newborns make sure everything is okay.
The agency had a busy and exciting 2023, and shared its successes and experiences with attendees of its annual meeting last week in St. Cloud.
The organization, one of 32 such coalitions in the state, grew, moved into new office space on New York Avenue, and all the while helped ensure children are getting the right start to life that they need.
“Our growth in staffing helped increase our capacity, so we accomplished so much in 2023,” said Kerri Stephen, Healthy Start of Osceola’s Executive Director. “And 2024 is shaping up to be great, too.”
A Healthy Start client, Amorye, attended the event and shared how beneficial and impactful services have been for her and her son.
“Healthy Start has empowered me to be the best mother I can be,” Amorye said, noting her baby was born healthy and continues to thrive.
By law, pregnant mothers are screened for risk factors at one of their first pre-natal doctor visits, and the baby is screened again soon after birth, to check for any issues or defects that could become a health problem prior to birth or in the first couple years of life.
Those who test positive for any at-risk issues are referred to Healthy Start for services—there were 1,000 positive screenings out of over 5,400 referrals from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023. Based on those screening markers, any pregnant woman or any parent with a child under 3, regardless of income or background, can receive help from Healthy Start.
“Those are the families we want referred to us,” Stephen said.
Stephen and her (growing!) team put state-level projects into place locally this year, such as a new fetal and infant mortality review, which helped expand bereavement services, and a program for new dads. Healthy Start Osceola held a “community baby shower” for new moms in the fall, and with little word getting out, 50 moms registered and “sold out” the event.
“I saw one mom in tears for being able to get access to the items needed when a baby comes,” Stephen said, noting car seats, diapers and the like. “It’s expensive to have a baby these days.”
In 2024, an expanded program offering doulas, those who provides guidance and support to a pregnant woman during labor, along with expanded electronic capabilities to perform those screenings, are expected to come online. While 91 percent of infants and mothers are screened, removing any barriers to the system could increase that figure, Stephens said.
These are services in great need; Stephen said an increase in births mimics the explosive growth in Osceola County over the last decade.
“Compared to 10 years ago, we’re seeing an increase of 1,000 births per year,” she said.
For more information, go to www.healthystartosceola.org.
