Program activities are based on the findings from a comprehensive assessment of the BIH Program.  The assessment was conducted by the University of California, San Francisco Center on Social Disparities and Health. According to their findings, recent research suggests that poor birth outcomes for African American women are due to health and social conditions across the life course, not just during pregnancy. As a result, a key recommendation from the assessment was to provide one standardized program, based on current science, across all BIH sites to support more effective program evaluation.

MCAH staff in collaboration with UCSF and outside stakeholders developed a group intervention which includes 10 prenatal sessions and 10 postpartum sessions The group sessions offer fun and interesting activities from a women’s health perspective that are intended to explore pregnancy-related (prenatal group sessions) and newborn parent-related (postpartum group sessions) topics as well as personal empowerment skills. In addition to the group intervention, complementary case management services are provided to all BIH clients.