Healthy Texas Babies:
A Stakeholder-Driven
Approach to Infant Mortality
Reduction
Evelyn Delgado, Assistant Commissioner
Division for Family and Community Health Services
Texas Department of State Health Services
Birth Outcomes Data
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)
Texas: 6.1*
African Americans: 9.9
Low Birth Weight (LBW)
Texas: 8.5 African Americans: 14.0
Preterm Birth (PTB)
Texas: 13.2
African Americans: 17.1
Maternal Age**
Less than 20: 13.5% of TX births; LBW 9.6; PTB 14.9
Greater than 40: 2% of TX births; LBW 12.3; PTB 18.6
*Data is rate per 1000 live births in 2008 ,Texas Natality and Mortality Files, Texas Department of State Health Services; National Vital
Statistics Reports, National Center for Health Statistics, 2000-2008, available at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/nvsr.htm.
**Data from March of Dimes PeriStats 2006-2008 averaged data.
What is Healthy
Texas Babies?

Healthy Texas Babies (HTB) is an initiative to decrease
infant mortality

Goals of Healthy Texas Babies Initiative:
 Provide local partnerships and coalitions with major roles in
shaping programs in their communities
 Use evidence-based interventions
 Decrease preterm birth rate by 8% over 2 years
 Save ~ $7.2 million in Medicaid costs over 2 years
Simultaneous Policy
Actions
 Legislature
bills
passed three related perinatal health
 HB 1983 – Eliminates Medicaid payment for elective inductions
and c-sections before the 39th week
 HB 824 – Creates an outreach campaign to promote fathers'
involvement with their children before birth
 HB 2636 – Creates a council to study neonatal intensive care unit
regionalization
 Legislature
appropriated $4.1 million in General
Revenue funds to DSHS funding the Healthy Texas
Babies initiative
What We Have
Accomplished So Far
 NICU Regionalization
 Dissemination of NICU & OB survey under direction
of HHSC
 HHSC convening NICU council using materials
developed by workgroup
 39-Weeks initiative
 Medicaid rules change for reimbursement of nonindicated pre-39 week deliveries
 March of Dimes and WIC collaboration
 Development of web-based well-woman curriculum
for WIC participants
What We Have
Accomplished So Far
 Increased public
awareness of the issue
 Healthy Texas Babies website & media campaign
 Tools, best practices and community updates
 Text4baby – DSHS is lead outreach partner for Texas
 Fatherhood
initiatives
 WIC is distributing Office of the Attorney General “Maps
for Dads” publication in all WIC sites
 DSHS, OAG working on development of fatherhood
survey
Distribution of HTB
Information & Funds
 Fund
local initiatives led by coalitions of
stakeholders and government organizations
 Provider education
 Community Health Worker/Promotor(a) trainings
 DSHS Grand Rounds Series
 Texas Health Steps module
 In-person trainings statewide
Moving forward

Expand Expert Panel membership
Multi-agency Work Group develops additional deliverables

Link to faith community, academic community, etc.

Implement programming based on NICU & OB Survey
results, results of fatherhood survey and other data
collection activities

Align HTB objectives with existing programs at the state
and local levels

National Perspective
• ASTHO Presidential Challenge
– Best Practice Subcommittee for ASTHO Healthy Babies
Project
• DHHS – HRSA
– Region 4 & 6 Infant Mortality Summit
• Big 5 – March of Dimes
• AMCHP Action Learning Collaborative
• HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Infant
Mortality
For more information or to get involved in
the Healthy Texas Babies Initiative:
Aisling McGuckin RN, MSN, MPH
Texas Department of State Health Services
Office of Title V & Family Health
Aisling.mcguckin@dshs.state.tx.us
(512) 776-2746
THANK YOU