Montgomery County’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) hosted its fifth annual “Right From the Start” event on April 12 to support the health and well-being of Black children and families.
The event, held at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, was a collaborative effort between DHHS’ Baby Born Healthy Program, the African American Health Program (AAHP), Early Childhood Services, and the Improved Pregnancy Outcomes program.
Angeline Bell, nurse manager of the Baby Born Healthy program, said the event centers on supporting families at every stage from preconception to early childhood.
“We want to support families to have healthy babies through preconception help, postpartum and early childhood services,” Bell said.
She explained that the event was also timed to recognize Black Maternal Health Week (April 11–17) and National Public Health Week (April 7–13), two campaigns aimed at raising awareness of health disparities in Black communities.
“We want to teach the clients constantly,” Bell said. “We want to make sure we keep giving them this information, so they can share it with their families as well.”
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