10 O'Clock News | [Healthy Start Program]

Infants in a hospital nursery

[Healthy Start Program]
Original Airdate: 5/15/1989

Length: 00:02:26
Item Type: newstape - edited story master

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Full Description

1:00:05
Visual: Footage of Deborah Prothrow-Stith (Commissioner, Department of Public Health) and another public health official handing out an award to a woman at a small press conference. Shots of the audience applauding at the press conference.

Marcus Jones reports that a small gathering of people gathered to celebrate the state's Healthy Start program. Jones reports that top officials from the Department of Public Health announced the findings of a study done on the first group of women and infants assisted by the Healthy Start Program.

V: Footage of Howard Spivak (Deputy Commissioner, Department of Public Health) speaking at the press conference. Spivak says that minority women, teenage girls, and other high-risk populations were among those aided by the Healthy Start program. Shots of the audience at the press conference. Shot of a poster for the Healthy Start program.

Jones reports that the Healthy Start program began in the mid-1980s; that the program is funded by state and federal money. Jones notes that the program provides pre-natal, birth, and post-partum care to poor, uninsured and under-insured women.

V: Shot of a pregnant African American woman being examined by a health care worker. Shot of an African American woman with her child, sitting in the waiting area of a health clinic. Shot of an African American woman and child talking about paperwork with a health care worker. Footage of Spivak at the press conference. Spivak says that high-risk women in the Healthy Start program had better birth outcomes than high-risk women in any other sectors. Spivak says that the success of the Healthy Start program proves that a broad-based approach is effective; that the program succeeds because it tries to serve all of the needs of pregnant women. Shots of audience members at the press conference; of Jones at the press conference.

Jones reports that teenagers and minorities in the Healthy Start Program gave birth to fewer low-weight babies than any other group in the state from July to December of 1986; that teenagers and minority women in the Healthy Start Program saw medical professionals more frequently; that teenagers and minority women in the Healthy Start program had fewer premature births.

V: Shots of a nurse rocking and feeding an infant in the nursery of a hospital; of hospital workers at an administration desk; of an African American infant surrounded by medical equipment in a hospital nursery. Shot of a health care worker examining an African American infant in a hospital nursery.

Jones reports that health officials would like the Healthy Start Program to continue to receive state funding.

V: Shots of infants sleeping in a hospital nursery; of a woman in a hospital bed with her baby sleeping next to her. Footage of Spivak being interviewed by Jones. Spivak says that the Healthy Start Program is still in the state budget; that officials expect to be able to maintain the program at its present level. Shots of an African American woman holding her child in a hospital nursery. The woman speaks to a white health care worker. Shot of a child in an incubator being wheeled through a hospital corridor.

Jones reports that the Healthy Start Program saves on hospital costs related to the birth of unhealthy and low-weight babies. Jones notes that the Healthy Start Program saves four to six dollars on hospital expenses for each dollar it spends.

V: Footage of Prothrow-Stith at the press conference. Prothrow-Stith says that the Healthy Start Program saves lives, prevents human tragedy, and saves money. Shots of the audience at the press conference.

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