Healthy Baby Campaign

The community need we are addressing is the low birth weight rate in Weld County, Colorado. Currently, the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment has implemented the Healthy Baby Campaign of Weld County (supported by the Women’s Health Unit at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and Maternal, Child, Health (MCH) funding),to improve perinatal outcomes by facilitating change in consumer attitudes, beliefs, and behavior regarding prenatal weight gain and smoking cessation. Colorado’s low birth weight rate was 9.1% (2003-2005, MCH Dataset). For Weld County the low birth rate was 8.1% (2003-2005 MCH Dataset). A LBW baby weighs 5 pounds 8 ounces (2,500 grams) or less. Low birth weight babies are not just small babies. They are more likely to have serious health difficulties and long-term disabilities, like cerebral palsy, sight and hearing problems, and learning problems in school. Research conducted by the CDPHE revealed in the 2000 report, “Tipping the Scales: Weighing in on Solutions to the Low Birth Weight Problem in Colorado”, that the key factors affecting low birth weight rates are inadequate prenatal weight gain and smoking during pregnancy.