Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services (DHSPS)

DHSPS provides national leadership and direction to programs and initiatives that aim to reduce infant mortality rates and improve maternal and infant health outcomes. Our division invests in communities with the goal of improving health before, during, and after pregnancy.

Programs and initiatives

We support better health for mothers, babies, and families through:

• Direct and enabling services
  • Healthy Start
• Data and infrastructure
  • Maternal and Infant Health Mapping Tool
  • Fetal and Infant Mortality Review
• Policy and systems change
  • Catalyst for Infant Health Equity
• Technical assistance
  • Supporting Healthy Start Performance Project (Healthy Start Technical Assistance and Support Center)
• Coordinating expert and partner engagement
  • Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality (ACIMM)
    Read the latest committee report: Making Amends: Recommended Strategies and Actions to Improve the Health and Safety of American Indian and Alaska Native Mothers and Infants (PDF - 1 MB)

Key accomplishments

Healthy Start

• There are 115 Healthy Start projects providing services in 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Projects are based in community settings and provide services, screening, and parenting and health education to mothers, fathers/partners, and babies up to 18 months. Access our Healthy Start fact sheet (PDF - 876 KB).
• Healthy Start projects serve 85,000+ participants annually.
• 85% of Healthy Start participants initiated prenatal care during the first trimester.
• 98% of women in Healthy Start programs were screened for depression with 84% of women who screened positive receiving a referral to a specialist.
• In recent years, Healthy Start awardees report that infant mortality rates among Healthy Start participants have decreased faster than the national rate during the same time period.

Maternal and Infant Health Mapping Tool

• Our interactive online tool allows users to create and customize maps to explore the geographic relationships between maternal and infant health indicators, health resources, and demographics.
• The tool helps federal, state, and local decision-makers visualize maternal and infant health factors so that they can better understand the needs and target resources to fill those gaps.