Hope hits the road with the MOM Project

By Will Fay

For most people, a recreational vehicle represents relaxation and vacations. But for many Indianapolis mothers, one recreational vehicle represents help--and hope.

Photo by Rich Baughn
IU School of Nursing MOM-mobile (Maternity Outreach and Mobilization)
The School of Nursing's MOM-mobile provides prenatal ultrasound examinations to women at seven Indianapolis neighborhood health clinics.

The IU School of Nursing's MOM-mobile is a 35-foot symbol of the school's Maternity Outreach and Mobilization Project--nicknamed the MOM Project. It was established in 1990 to combat the unacceptably high rate of African American infant mortality in Indianapolis, among the highest in the country in the late 1980s.

The MOM-mobile is equipped with an ultrasound machine and staffed by a facilities manager and an ultrason-ographer. It provides ultrasound examinations to pregnant women at seven Indianapolis neighborhood health clinics, none with the equipment or staff to perform such examinations on site. All examinations are reviewed by obstetricians at the IU School of Medicine's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

More than 12,000 pregnant women have received ultrasound examinations on the MOM-mobile since it hit the road. The MOM Project was established through funding from the Charlene S. Lugar Birth Defects Grant Fund, administered through the Hoosier Heartland Chapter of the March of Dimes. Today, the MOM-mobile is financially self-sufficient, with operating expenses paid for by service contracts with the neighborhood health clinics.

Home visits also are part of the MOM Project, which became part of the Healthy Families Indiana initiative in 1997. The initiative is funded by the state's Family and Social Services Administration and the Marion County Office of Family and Children. Healthy Families is a voluntary home visiting program for all new parents, offering support and resources for eligible families for up to five years.