This month, our perinatal staff completed six onsite trainings with First Breath sites in Northeast Wisconsin to share program updates and best practices for assisting women with changing their tobacco use. This particular onsite training was exciting, because the First Breath partnership added a new provider site to its existing 160+ sites statewide! We are happy to have Bellin Health of Green Bay on board and trained in offering tobacco cessation services to pregnant women in their community.
Having the Bellin Hospital and OB Clinic trained and ready to offer First Breath services positively impacts our programming in a number of ways. Bellin Health is a large health system and is able to increase the number of pregnant women reached in the Northeast part of Wisconsin. Some of the surrounding northern counties don’t have active First Breath sites, so Bellin becomes that resource. Having Bellin Health on board is also a breakthrough for the First Breath program as we have been actively trying to improve data collection. Bellin will be incorporating data collection into their existing Electronic Medical Records, EPIC, and can serve as an example of First Breath implementation at the clinic level for other organizations in the community.
We are thankful that Kelli LeClaire with Bellin Health Maternity submitted an online First Breath interest survey last fall to become a provider. She had learned about First Breath from another Bellin doctor, who previously lived in Madison and was familiar with the program. She was impressed with the high success rates and saw it as a solution for following through with pregnant moms who reported tobacco use. After completing First Breath training, Bellin Health now has a protocol for addressing prenatal tobacco use, and First Breath has a valuable new partner!
If you are interested in learning more about First Breath services or becoming a First Breath provider, visit the First Breath site.