Safety PIN (Protecting Indiana's Newborns)

About

father and infant

In 2017, Parkview Women’s and Children’s Hospital was awarded funding from the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Safety PIN (Protecting Indiana’s Newborns) grant to combat infant mortality in northeast Indiana. Through the use of community nursing (RN)/community health worker (CHW) teams, Parkview’s “Stand Together for Babies” project focuses on community-based services, referrals, education and advocacy, with a substantial home-visiting component. The program concentrates on service delivery for women and families of greatest risk and need, and provides screening, education and resources for expectant and postpartum mothers and their newborns.

Resources are tailored to each client’s individual needs; they include but are not limited to education on safe sleeping practices and car seat safety, breastfeeding support provided by lactation specialists, prenatal care, assistance finding medical providers, and referrals for other programs and government assistance. The program aims to serve up to 3,000 at-risk individuals over the grant period (January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2023) in Allen County and other surrounding counties, including Lagrange, Steuben, Noble, DeKalb, Kosciusko, Whitley, Wabash, Huntington, Wells and Adams.

In 2022, under the direction of Brandon McDaniel, Senior Research Scientist, the Safety PIN team also implemented education surrounding new/expectant parent technology use and potential impacts on their mental health, sleep, stress, and so forth. This work is currently ongoing. Yet, preliminary evidence suggests that positive client feelings about the education. For example:

  • 91% learned from the tech education
  • 80% found it valuable
  • 74% try harder to put down their phone when with their baby
  • 70% pay more attention to how they use their phone
  • 54% made changes to their phone/tech habits 

Partners

Funding

  • Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Safety PIN (Protecting Indiana’s Newborns) grant

Publications

Press

All projects