The Better Babies Project is a community based intervention in a geographically defined area of the Washington, D.C., which has as its major objective the reduction of low birth weight in the target area. Funding for this project was provided largely from private foundations as well as a grant from the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, HRSA. This project may be characterized as a multi-risk factor intervention targeted upon pregnant women. It consisted of an extensive effort to identify and recruit all pregnant women who lived in the target site, to link them with prenatal care and for those in prenatal care, to enhance their compliance, to provide social support and especially facilitate access to social entitlement programs for which these women may be eligible, including Medicaid, WIC, Commodity Surplus Food, as well as others. Interventions were offered for adverse health behaviors, like smoking, alcohol and drug abuse. The study recruited pregnant women over a period of three years, from September 1986 through September 1989. DESPR has offered input into the design of this community based intervention and also its evaluation. Specifically, the DESPR has assumed responsibility for evaluating the impact of the project on the target population.
