The Importance of Prevention

Preventing bad outcomes for families and children is easier and more cost-effective than addressing bad outcomes after they occur.  This philosophy drives SACCounty Healthy Beginning’s prevention efforts.  Clinical research has shown that:

  • Identification and intervention in pregnancies at risk from substance use and misuse improves pregnancy outcomes with significantly lower rates of:

    • Preterm delivery

    • Low birth weight

    • Abruptio placentae

    • Stillbirth

    • Maternal deaths

    • Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

    • NICU admissions

  • Identification of infants and young children affected by prenatal substance exposure and provision of early intervention services before the age of 6 years significantly improves the child’s long term developmental trajectory.