内容摘要：And Phil Serna, the county board member who brought forth the declaration, said it’s important to recognize what has been done — and what still lies ahead.

And Phil Serna, the county board member who brought forth the declaration, said it’s important to recognize what has been done — and what still lies ahead.

Besides coordinating prenatal and postpartum care — which experts say is crucial for keeping moms alive — local Healthy Start projects provide pregnancy and parenting education and referrals to services for things like depression or domestic violence. The local efforts also involve women’s partners and kids up to 18 months. And they focus on issues that influence health, such as getting transportation to appointments.Corrina Jackson, who heads up a local version of the federal Healthy Start program, stands for a portrait outside her home. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon)

Corrina Jackson, who heads up a local version of the federal Healthy Start program, stands for a portrait outside her home. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon)“You try to get them in their first trimester and then work with them to delivery day, and then we also work with the babies to make sure that they reach their milestones,” Jackson said.Jackson got help from the local Urban League as a single mom, and felt called to give back to her community. She’s been with Healthy Start for more than 25 years, first through Tulsa’s health department and recently through a nonprofit she started that received about $1 million in federal funds this fiscal year.

“I’m just like a mom to this program,” Jackson said.Oklahoma overall has a maternal mortality rate of about

live births, significantly higher than the national average of about 23. But in Jackson’s quarter-century tenure, she said, there have been no maternal deaths among clients.

Pivotal to Healthy Start’s success are care coordinators like Krystal Keener, a social worker based at Oklahoma State University’s obstetrics and gynecology clinic, where clients get prenatal care. One of her responsibilities is to educate clients about health issues, like how to spot the signs of preeclampsia or how much bleeding is too much after delivery.Nurse practitioner Eliza Otero, left, talks with Fernando Hermida during his visit at Pineapple Healthcare in Orlando, Fla. The clinic serves an LGBTQ+ population, especially Latinos living with HIV. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Nurse practitioner Eliza Otero, left, talks with Fernando Hermida during his visit at Pineapple Healthcare in Orlando, Fla. The clinic serves an LGBTQ+ population, especially Latinos living with HIV. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)Congress has appropriated

over five years to the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, and jurisdictions that get the money areof it in community-based organizations. But the initiative lacks requirements to target any particular groups, including Latinos, leaving it up to the cities, counties and states to come up with specific strategies.