ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – A program in Northwest Florida is encouraging new or expecting mothers to see their doctor to make sure their baby is healthy.

In Escambia County, one child dies every 12 days on average before reaching their 1st birthday. And almost 12% of children in the county are born underweight. This is according to figures compiled by Escambia Children’s Trust.

Community Health Northwest Florida trying to save these young lives by addressing maternity care for mothers-to-be. They provide “Baby Bucks” to them to see a provider and follow the guidelines.

“Baby Bucks is an incentive program we started for expectant mothers and mothers who just had a baby,” said Reginald Dogan, event coordinator with Community Health Northwest Florida. “We want to help expectant parents understand the importance of seeing their provider, seeing their doctor, getting their weekly checkups to ensure they have a healthy pregnancy.”

Each visit earns them a dollar. As mothers accumulate this money, they can use it to get things for their children. They can exchange the money for strollers, car seats, diapers, bottles, etc. The main goal is to make mothers understand how important it is to keep track of their doctor’s appointments in order to have a healthy birth.

Dogan says that increased awareness could possibly help lower these infant mortality rates. Community Health created a roadmap that moms can follow to check off what they should do during their pregnancy. To keep track of all their visits, mothers can use Community Health’s “Baby’s Steps Passport” to let whoever their provider is at the time know what they’ve checked.

New and expectant mothers can visit Community HealthNorthwest Florida at any of their locations to participate. They will be checked in and assigned a provider to get started.

These locations are as follows:

• 2315 W. Jackson St.
• 2510 N 12th Avenue
• 1400 N. Palafox Street