Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Vitamin Angels aim to reach 10,000+ Texans with no-cost prenatal vitamins
Summary
BCBSTX Special Beginnings\xae continues collaboration with nonprofits, providers to improve health outcomes for Texas moms, babiesRICHARDSON, Texas, Dec. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With a shared goal to improve outcomes for mothers and babies statewide, Vitamin Angels will join Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas evolved Special Beginnings\xae maternal and infant health initiative in an effort to put at least 10,000 six-month supplies of prenatal vitamins and minerals in the hands of family-planning, pregnant and postpartum Texas women.BCBSTX will provide Vitamin Angels with a $300,000 grant, and the two organizations will work in tandem across BCBSTX initiatives initial target regions of Austin/Central Texas, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston and Rio Grande Valley to enable eligible providers, clinics and community organizations to distribute no-cost vitamins and minerals to their clients and patients. Around seven in 10 of the 3,000 NTDs that occur each year in the United States could be prevented if women, during preconception and pregnancy, took daily multivitamins containing folic acid.The Vitamin Angels grant builds on BCBSTXs long-standing maternal and infant care programs as well as relationships with trusted local community organizations, health care providers and thought leaders to leverage their knowledge, experience and talents to increase access to care, reduce care gaps and educate and engage Texans at a local level.BCBSTXs statewide evolved Special Beginnings\xae initiative aims to improve health outcomes for Texas moms and babies following data that showed nine out of 10 maternal deaths in Texas were preventable. We strengthen, extend, and amplify the impact of our partner organizations working to reach the most nutritionally vulnerable groups pregnant women, infants, and young children who are underserved by existing systems. We do this by delivering evidence-based interventions and offering technical assistance, including ongoing monitoring and evaluation, to ensure program quality, scale, and impact. Vitamin Angels works with over 1,200 local organizations, including governments, to reach more than 71 million women and children in about 65 countries annually.