While dealing with snowy and icy conditions across Kentucky, I believe it is an opportune time to focus on one of the University's brightest stories. In May 2005, UK launched the Commonwealth Collaboratives, an initiative that called upon UK's top faculty and researchers to tackle some of Kentucky's most intrinsic problems. The Collaboratives challenged our top minds to reach out across Kentucky and solve problems that have long held this state back from reaching its full potential.
Today, I want to take a moment to spotlight a Commonwealth Collaborative that has been working to improve lives in Hopkins County.
UK's CenteringPregnancy Smiles is working to reduce the cycle of preterm birth, low birth weight, and poor oral health in Kentucky. Since January 2006, UK has been collaborating with the Trover Health System and Hopkins County Health Department to serve expecting families from Hopkins, Muhlenberg, McLean, Henderson, Union, Webster, Crittenden, Caldwell, and Christian counties.
The results have been phenomenal. A total of 410 women from the region have delivered babies as part of the CenteringPregnancy Smiles program at Trover Clinic’s Women’s Center. The overall preterm birth rates have been reduced from 14 percent to 6 percent and rates of low birth weight deliveries from 8 percent to 5 percent. For those women that completed more than 50 percent of the visits for Centering and received dental care, the rates for preterm birth were reduced from 14 to 4 percent and 8 to 4 percent for low birth weight.
The most telling data involve women from the region who did not attend at least 50 percent of the Centering visits and did not receive dental care. That population did not see any improvement over the regional historical norm for preterm and low birth weight births.
It is estimated that CenteringPregnancy Smiles saved $1.5 million in medical bills in 2006 and 2007 by preventing 37 preterm births.
I plan to spotlight more of the Collaboratives in this space in the weeks and months ahead. If you want to learn more about our CenteringPregnancy Smiles program in Hopkins County, check out the following video:
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