History/Mission

Healthy Beginnings……because mothers and babies deserve healthy beginnings

Our mission is to provide quality medical care to expectant women in an environment of life changing love and hope

Healthy Beginnings—A Collaborative Approach

In 1993, Healthy Beginnings organized as a faith-based, not-for-profit, medical outreach to under-resourced women in the Greater Cincinnati community. The women served then, as now, were without private medical insurance. Healthy Beginnings is unique, in that it was conceived as an extension of an existing network of crisis pregnancy centers. Both organizations shared the common goal of reaching, educating, and serving disadvantaged young women from our region that were experiencing unplanned pregnancies. These women are often at risk for inadequate, late, or absent pre-natal care.

When Healthy Beginnings opened its doors, only public health clinics and a few neighborhood clinics offered prenatal care outside of the major hospitals. All of these clinics were over crowded, and many were inaccessible to patients. In addition, our approach has emphasized collaboration with other community service organizations such as Every Child Succeeds, WIC, and Hamilton County Job and Family Services. Taken together these organizations provide women with a safety net of medical insurance, transportation, food, social service support, material support and parenting classes.

Timely and Comprehensive Care

We are a network of six obstetrical clinics in Greater Cincinnati’s inner city, suburbs, and rural communities. Because of our strategic locations, we are available to offer timely prenatal medical care to women who might not otherwise seek medical services. We offer the highest quality medical care in an atmosphere of a private physician’s office.

Healthy Beginnings has a staff of twenty-eight employees including six dedicated volunteer physicians, seven volunteer midwives, two nurse practitioners, medical assistants, ultrasound technicians, a dietitian, a clinical counselor, and administrative staff. We are able to provide medical care to women within five days of a positive pregnancy test. Almost 100% of our patients are termed “at risk” according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ prenatal risk assessment. Some of the factors evaluated include poor nutrition, smoking, drug abuse, domestic violence, under nineteen, late initial and/or missed appointments, gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. Most of our patients are living at or below 150% of the poverty line.

Providing Complete Care: Medical, Emotional, and Spiritual

Our focus is on improving the health of mothers and babies by offering early diagnosis of maternal and fetal disease, on-site diagnostic ultrasounds, diet and nutrition counseling as well as drug abuse and counseling interventions. We demonstrate our effectiveness in that we have far fewer low birth weights, premature deliveries and infant mortality rates than currently being seen in greater Cincinnati. We are serving more patients each year: in 2000, 929 patients were served, and by 2008 that number had increased to 2,111. In 2008, 972 babies were born to patients of Healthy Beginnings.

Accurate information regarding fetal development and an ultrasound exam are offered to women who want to make an educated decision when considering whether to abort or carry their infant to term. Only registered ultrasound technicians provide these exams. If desired, a woman may meet with our nurse practitioner or clinical counselor for further counseling following her exam.

Those patients, who ask for guidance with their faith, as they confront the necessary changes in their lives that accompany the challenges of parenting, are offered prayer, information, and referrals to local churches.