Healthy Start
Healthy Start is for ALL pregnant women and children up to age three residing in St. Lucie County.
Are you going to have a baby? To make sure your baby has the best possible start, ask for a Healthy Start Screen on your first prenatal visit to your obstetrician and at the hospital after you deliver your baby. The screen may detect areas where you need additional help or support. Healthy Start can provide the extra help you may need. Eligibility is NOT based on income, it is based on NEED!
The Healthy Start Prenatal and Infant Screen is a one page questionnaire to be filled out by you and your obstetrician. If you choose to participate, you can receive Healthy Start services FREE OF CHARGE.
Pregnancy and your child's first three years of life are special and important events in both of your lives. The choices you make during that time will affect your futures. To participate in Healthy Start, you must complete the screen. To qualify for Healthy Start, you need to score at lease 6 points on the Healthy Start prenatal screen or at least 4 points on the Healthy Start infant screen, be referred by your doctor, or you can refer yourself into the program. The Healthy Start Care Coordinator will contact you by phone or mail once the screen has been received. Then you just need to participate to make sure your child has a HEALTHY START!
Healthy Start provides Care Coordination, Case Management, Home Visits, Nutritional Counseling, Pediatric/Postpartum Home Visits, Childbirth Classes, Smoking Cessation, Parenting Classes, Breastfeeding Classes, Infant CPR and Car Seat Safety classes.
Services provided by St. Lucie County Health Department Healthy Start are:
- Healthy Start Teen Case Management:
Offers care coordination, case management, home visits and educational services provided to teens, ages 12-17, with a positive pregnancy test. Referrals made for childbirth education classes, smoking cessation, parenting classes, breastfeeding classes, car seat seat safety classes, infant CPR, enrollment into Medicaid, WIC and prenatal care. - Teen Choices:
Offers counseling to teens, ages 12-17 with a negative pregnancy test, in the areas of STDs, HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy prevention, self-esteem building and forming positive relationships in a group setting. - Nurse Case Management:
Offers care coordination, case management, home visits and educational services by a licensed nurse for pregnant women and their infants with medical concerns. Contraceptive follow-up also provided, if needed. - PEPW (Presumptive Eligibility for Pregnant Women) and Prenatal Voucher Program:
Facilitate enrollment of all pregnant women into PEPW/Medicaid. Provide information on local OB providers. Enrollment into the prenatal voucher program for those who qualify. - Nutritional Counseling Services:
Provide nutrition counseling which includes comprehensive nutritional assessments (including breastfeeding education) and nutrition intervention planning. - Targeted Outreach for Pregnant Women Act (TOPWA):
Targeted outreach provided to pregnant women who are not receiving prenatal care or are at risk of delivering a substance exposed or HIV infected newborn. Services include outreach HIV and pregnancy testing providing HIV infected pregnant women with information on the benefit of prenatal care and the use of AZT to reduce prenatal transmission, linking pregnant women with substance abuse treatment, enrolling women who are not in prenatal care into prenatal care, discussing the importance of family planning and referring to appropriate family planning providers, and linking pregnant women into other prenatal services such as WIC and other community agencies/programs..
For more information, contact:
Program Manager
(772) 460-2571
For information concerning services at the
St. Lucie County Health Department, call:
(772) 462-3891
