SHIFT Healthy Start

To improve the health outcomes of Tulsa infants, SHIFT Healthy Start program helps hundreds of women and infants access culturally sensitive, family-centered, community health and social services to create favorable foundations for children’s development.

Here's how we can help!

Healthy Start Mission:
To reduce infant & maternal mortality

​Supporting Healthy Initiatives For Tulsa, Inc.’s Healthy Start is designed to meet the needs of mothers, fathers and infants living in Tulsa, focusing on healthy outcomes to reduce infant mortality and maternal morbidity/mortality. Healthy Start Care Coordinators and Navigators work with expectant mothers and their families before, during and after pregnancy, employing strategies to improve maternity care quality focused on patient safety and evidence-based practice. The Healthy Start Care Coordinator and Navigator assists each client in accessing community, culturally sensitive, family-centered, comprehensive health and social services for women, infant and families. Our four Care Coordinators and two Health Navigators work to promote healthy births across Tulsa and close the racial health gap that particularly impacts African American women and babies. We provide support, advocacy and an extra layer of protective services to improve birth outcomes for mothers and infants. 

Infant & Maternal Mortality  
In the U.S., African American women are 3-4 times more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death than white women, and African American babies are 2 times more likely to die than white babies (Source: CDC). In Tulsa County, African American babies are 3 times more likely to die than white babies (Source: Tulsa Equality Indicators). Supporting Healthy Initiatives For Tulsa, Inc.’s Healthy Start and Tulsa Health Department’s Healthy Start programs work closely with hundreds of women throughout Tulsa to provide perinatal services and concentrated care coordination to reduce the risk of maternal and infant mortality. Healthy Start Care Coordinators and Navigators walk with mothers throughout their pregnancy and the first 18 months of their babies’ life, forming a strong bond that is unique and essential to our program. 
 
ZIP codes we serve in Tulsa County:
74103, 74104, 74105, 74107, 74108, 74112, 74114, 74119, 74120, 74128, 74129, 74132, 74133, 74134, 74135, 74136, 74137, 74145, 74146
Our Healthy Start team helps expectant mothers living in 19 ZIP codes across Tulsa County receive maternity/family care with one of our partner medical providers, increasing access to culturally-sensitive, family-centered health and social services to meet each family’s needs. We develop and manage a plan of care during pregnancy, providing education and strategies for a healthy delivery. After the baby is born, our team continues to assist the family for 18 months with connections to resources to empower the family, such as life skills education, breastfeeding support, new mom support groups, job skills training, and access to healthcare and provisions for basic needs. We provide support for both parents and parent figures to help strengthen the family and create the most favorable foundation for the child’s healthy development. Our sister program – Tulsa Health Department’s Healthy Start – works with families in other ZIP codes in Tulsa.
​If you live in a ZIP code that is not listed in our coverage area, please reach out to Tulsa Health Department’s Healthy Start by clicking here.
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Healthy Start Fatherhood Program 
Support for both parents and involvement of fathers also helps support women during pregnancy, thereby strengthening the family and creating the most favorable foundation for infant and youth development. The Supporting Healthy Initiatives For Tulsa, Inc. Healthy Start Fatherhood Program is committed to improving the father-child relationship through fatherhood engagement. Our program promotes this philosophy by linking fathers to resources that strengthen the role of an involved father. We embrace fathers and father figures of all types – biological, foster, adoptive and stepfathers – along with male relatives and adult male mentors. Our mission is to promote individual and group education to help men develop the skills needed for a life-long commitment in the lives of their children. 
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Healthy Start Consortia 
The Supporting Healthy Initiatives For Tulsa, Inc.’s Healthy Start Consortia consists of families who participate in our Healthy Start program and community partners who work together to help to improve the health and well-being of infants, moms and families throughout Tulsa.  We are always looking to expand; if you are with a company or are an individual interested in joining the consortium please contact us.

HEALTHY BABIES ARE OUR BUSINESS! ​

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