[December 12, 2012]

A Healthy Head Start: Grant from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation supports prenatal care at Families First

The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has donated $15,000 to help Families First Health and Support Center deliver prenatal care for high-risk women, the two organizations announced today.

The grant is part of Anthem's Healthy Generations initiative, which funds programs that are aimed at improving specified health measures. Families First's grant was awarded to help at-risk expectant mothers commit to behaviors proven to reduce low birth-weight outcomes and lead to healthier babies.

"Anthem's grant will help us minimize the factors that often lead to low birth-weight by providing obstetric care, nutrition education, substance abuse counseling and help addressing psychosocial issues," says Families First Executive Director Helen Taft. "These services have helped us consistently exceed the national average in percentage of babies who are born at a healthy weight, even though many of our patients face homelessness, poverty, domestic violence and other risks."

Lisa Guertin, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Hampshire, lauded the efforts of Families First. "We've been pleased to collaborate with Families First on prior occasions and we're thrilled to be able to continue to support their work," she said. "They are a wonderful resource and play a vital role in the good health of the seacoast community."

In addition to prenatal care, Families First provides general medical care for people of all ages, dental care, and parenting and family programs. More information is aailable at 603-422-8208 and FamiliesFirstSeacoast.org.

About the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation

Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, promotes Anthem's inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield serves. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company's annual associate giving campaign and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates' campaign pledges. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Hampshire

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Anthem Health Plans of New Hampshire, Inc., an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. ®ANTHEM is a registered trade mark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine is available at www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at www.twitter.com/healthjoinin, on Facebook (News - Alert) at www.facebook.com/HealthJoinIn, or visit our YouTube (News - Alert) channel at www.youtube.com/healthjoinin.

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