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Hudson Perinatal Consortium, Inc.

242 10th Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302

The overall goal of the Juntas! (Together) project is to decrease the rate of infant mortality among Puerto Rican women in Hudson County. To achieve this goal, the project focuses its efforts and interventions on addressing important perinatal health indicators such as low birthweight, onset and adequacy of prenatal care, and smoking and drug use during pregnancy. Project activities are carried out in collaboration with the Jersey City Family Health Center, the North Hudson Community Action Corporation, and Consuelo Bonilla.

The project conducts outreach to bring at risk Puerto Rican women into prenatal care, and follows them through their pregnancy. Outreach workers canvass the community and attend local health fairs and community activities to talk to women about the program and the importance of prenatal care and nutrition during pregnancy, and distribute flyers and educational materials in local supermarkets, nail salons, faith-based organizations and childcare agencies. Educational seminars are conducted in local faith-based organizations, WIC, Medicaid office, welfare office, local high schools, and local substance abuse agencies. Seminar topics include prenatal care, low-birthweight, smoking, and drug use during pregnancy. Women are also referred to the program by local agencies that service women and children, and by providers at Federally Qualified Health centers. Outreach workers followup with clients weekly by phone or home visits to ensure compliance with scheduled appointments, offer support, and provide referrals for appropriate services. To help alleviate some of the barriers to attending appointments, round trip bus tickets are provided for each prenatal appointment, the 6 week postpartum visit, and the newborn’s one-two week well baby visit. Assistance is also provided in enrolling in insurance programs.