NEW YORK, NY. – June 30, 2006 – Brooklyn Perinatal Network, Inc. is excited and pleased to announce that they are one of twelve recipients of the 2006 Community Grant award from the March of Dimes.  The project being funded is the Birthing Project/Sister Friend Initiative. This project pairs community volunteers who provide emotional and practical one-on-one support during pregnancy and up to the child’s first birthday using the extended family model. 

Educational workshops focused on prevention of preterm birth/signs of pre-term labor, healthy nutrition and the importance of folic acid, smoking cessation and exercise are among some of the services provided. Some of the workshops will be held during community baby showers where women have the opportunity to accept and appreciate pregnancy related workshops in a intimate, fun environment while utilizing other community resources. “The community grant process is so competitive, we are honored to be among the awardees this year,” said Ngozi Moses, Executive Director of Brooklyn Perinatal Network (BPN).

Dionne Durant, Associate Director of Program Services for the March of Dimes said, “We are pleased  to have such a successful, innovative community based initiative associated with the March of Dimes New York Division. As the program progresses we are looking forward to reports of great birth outcomes due to the interaction between little sister and sister-friend.” The mission of the March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Visit the March of Dimes website at www.marchofdimes.com/ny or our Spanish language website at www.nacersano.org.

Brooklyn Perinatal Network has had great success implementing this Birthing Project, achieving much better birth outcomes then that of the community. A lot of women, who experience poor birth outcomes such as prematurity and low birth weight, are known to have poor or no family support, the funding for this project will help to strengthen services to fill this gap. The Birthing Project is housed at BPN’s program site at 800 Marcy Avenue, corner of Gates. If interested in volunteering as a “Big Sister” or having a “Big Sister” please call 718. 643.8258 x.21.

The American Stroke Association does not endorse “The Smile Test,” also known as “a simple test for stroke,” – which was widely distributed through emails.

The facts: A scientific poster presented at the 2003 International Stroke Conference titled “Untrained Adults Can Identify Symptoms of Stroke by Directed Use of the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale” suggested that asking three questions could help bystanders identify a stroke:

1. Ask the individual to smile
2. Ask him or her to raise both arms
3. Ask the person to speak a simple sentence coherently.

This presentation by researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine was one of 450 presentations made at the conference hosted by the American Stroke Association. The poster showed positive results but was a very small study. The research was funded by a grant from the American Stroke Association. However, the American Stroke Association has not taken a position on this topic nor endorsed this test.

Stroke warning signs are:

	Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
	Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
	Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
	Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
	Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Call 9-1-1 immediately if you experience symptoms!
Time lost is brain lost!