Hope Cottage, a non-profit in Dallas that aims to build stronger families, is partnering with another non-profit to offer additional services. Hope Cottage and HHM Health will operate a clinic for new and expecting mothers.
The two non-profits are using a $2 million donation from the George and Fay Young Foundation.
"Everything we do has a goal of making families stronger," says Hope Cottage Chief Executive Stephanie Bohan.
Bohan says the partnership will allow Hope Cottage and HHM to offer pregnancy testing and prenatal care at the organization's location at 609 Texas Street in East Dallas.
"Across the state, many mothers are unable to access prenatal care, putting them and their children at risk," she says. "Last year, 75% of our birth mothers who had placed at Hope Cottage had no prenatal care."
HHM Health Chief Medical Officer LaTasha Jarrett says Texas ranks last in "quality prenatal and maternal care" and has the lowest percentage of women ages 18-44 with health insurance and lowest percentage of women with a primary care doctor.
"Babies of mothers who do not get prenatal care are three times more likely to have a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than those whose mothers do get care," she says.
Jarrett says the clinic can also prevent maternal deaths, saying 90% are considered preventable.
"Together, our goal is to avoid that tragedy and make maternal healthcare a smoother process for everyone," she says.
Bohan says she started talking with HHM last year, saying they learned "our organizations share a passion for maternal health and wellness and strong families begin with healthy births."
"We both knew our community needed to do better," Bohan says. "We don't ever want to let the lack of access or cost to get in the way of a woman's ability to care for herself and her child during pregnancy.
Hope Cottage opened 105 years ago. The organization has expanded and works with Parkland Hospital and several non-profits to offer parenting classes and to support new families. Hope Cottage will expand into Carrollton this year, partnering with Woven Health clinic.
More information about Hope College is available at https://www.hopecottage.org/ , and information about HHM is available at https://www.hhmhealth.org/ .
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