The Healthy Babies Healthy Children (HBHC) program connects families to personalized post partum follow-up care with public health professionals. The weeks following birth are a critical period for infants, setting the stage for long-term health and well-being. The HBHC program helps eligible families access important resources such as breastfeeding support and a home visiting program (with a Public Health Nurse and Family Home Visitor).
BORN works behind the scenes to make sure public health nurses have access to information needed to contact families and offer services in a timely manner. BORN’s electronic HBHC screen (eHBHC) has been used to securely transfer screening information from hospitals to public health units since June 2019. The eHBHC program was recently expanded to include midwifery practice groups. Midwives attending out-of-hospital births can now submit HBHC screens electronically instead of faxing paper forms (reducing security risks and ensuring the safety of client personal health information).
For HBHC screening to work efficiently and effectively, information must flow seamlessly from midwives (who conduct the screening) to public health nurses (who coordinate services). The BORN Information System eHBHC tool provides the mechanism for the secure and timely transfer of this information – information that is critical to ensuring vulnerable families get the supports and services they need.
BORN, the Ministry of Community and Children’s Services, and the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) collaborated to launch the eHBHC solution for midwives on March 22, 2021. Currently, 75 Midwifery Practice Groups have adopted this technical solution.
