When Danielle*, a young expectant mother, learned during an ultrasound that her baby would need surgery after birth, medical care wasn’t the only thing she lacked.
She was hungry. She had diabetes and no insulin. She couldn’t get insurance approved. She had no one to accompany her to specialist appointments.
That’s when Elise stepped in.
A registered nurse who leads patient education at the Luke Clinic and works closely with its Healthy Baby initiative, Elise, brought Danielle breakfast, helped navigate insurance paperwork and accompanied her to specialist appointments. She was there when Danielle delivered, and when Danielle’s son came home after surgery, that relationship helped keep them connected to care.
“She brought him in for his care and got his follow-up and everything that he needed because she knew that there were people at the Luke Clinic that cared about her,” Elise said.
At the Luke Clinic, relationships are part of the care.
Located inside a Lutheran church in southwest Detroit, the Luke Clinic provides free care for uninsured and underinsured families during pregnancy and through a baby’s first year. But staff knows medical care is only one part of helping families stay healthy. Parents also need trusted support that helps them keep accessing care.
After a baby is born, that support becomes even more important. New demands can make it harder for families to keep appointments, respond to reminders and stay connected to care.
At the Luke Clinic, the need is clear: fewer than one in four infants attend at least five well-child visits of the recommended seven to eight during their first year, and only 14% receive the full recommended series of childhood immunizations by 13 months.
“I think it’s easy to look at people that have a lot of barriers and to think, ‘You just don’t care about your baby,'” Elise said. “All of our mothers want to be good mothers. Sometimes, they need someone to come alongside of them for guidance.”
Through the Healthy Baby initiative, the Children’s Foundation of Michigan is supporting the Luke Clinic’s work to help infants receive critical preventive care during a formative period of growth and development.
A $50,000 Children’s Foundation of Michigan grant supports the Luke Clinic’s Healthy Baby Initiative which is educating, tracking and reminding families about well-child visits and immunizations while addressing practical barriers that can keep them from getting there.
Throughout the grant period, the goal is to achieve a 20% improvement in well-child visit attendance and recommended childhood vaccinations.
Central to that effort are community health workers like Abby.
Community Health Worker, Abby, and her baby.
Not long ago, Abby was a Luke Clinic patient herself, attending the clinic’s “Girl Talk” education classes while pregnant. Today, she’s on the other side of those conversations.
Abby talks with parents about the Healthy Baby Initiative, encourages them to keep appointments and helps them navigate the immunization process. She knows what it’s like to be a Luke Clinic patient and to make those same decisions as a mother.
Community health workers are one strategy the Healthy Baby Initiative uses to keep families connected to care. Another is creating opportunities to bring preventive care and resources directly to more families.
Earlier this year, more than 50 parents, caregivers, and children attended a Luke Clinic immunization fair. Fourteen community organizations connected families with health insurance, free birth certificates, IDs, and other resources. When some parents arrived with children who were years behind on immunizations, community health workers helped families navigate barriers and connect with well-child exams and vaccines.
Families who visited all of the stations received free diapers. But the incentive is really an invitation to learn about their child’s health, solve practical barriers and build another layer of trust.
It’s the trust that has the greatest staying power.
“I know you as a person. I care that you’re not here. I want to help you get your immunizations,” Elise said. “Just that investment in their family and who they are has made such a difference.”
Success will be measured by more babies completing well-child visits and receiving recommended immunizations. But behind those numbers are families like Danielle’s—a mother who found someone willing to walk alongside her during pregnancy, and a child who remained connected to care after he was born.
Because sometimes getting a child to the next appointment starts long before the appointment itself.
*Name has been changed to protect identity
Elise with a Luke Clinic mother and her baby
