March of Dimes awards Healthy Babies Healthy Business Seal of Approval to The Children's Hospital in Denver

The March of Dimes today announced it has awarded its first-ever Healthy Babies Healthy Business Seal of Approval, to The Children's Hospital in Denver. Children's becomes the first organization in Colorado - and the nation - to earn this new certification.

“Helping moms have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies is just good sense. Two million working women will have babies this year, and infant and maternal care can be a bigger expenditure for employers after the fact than it needs to be.”

The Healthy Babies Healthy Business Seal of Approval recognizes commitment to providing a pregnancy- and family-friendly work environment. To be certified, companies must meet 14 standards (established by the National Business Group on Health) and document specifically what they provide within the workplace to lead to healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. The application process includes providing information about health education offered to employees, work environment qualities, scheduling flexibility and health insurance coverage. A panel of March of Dimes volunteers, who are all health-industry professionals, then review the application. After conducting a site visit to verify information, the panel elects to award the seal of approval.

Examples of the standards include: encouraging early and continuing prenatal care; providing a workplace that is smoke-, drug- and toxin-free; offering reasonable physical accommodation for pregnant employees; and, allowing time off for health appointments.

The March of Dimes will promote Healthy Babies Healthy Business Seal of Approval companies through its marketing channels on an ongoing basis. In turn, organizations like Children's that earn the seal can use it to spotlight their businesses. The seal of approval is good for two years, at which point applications may be renewed.

The seal of approval is one facet of the March of Dimes Healthy Babies Healthy Business program. This workplace wellness initiative provides a range of resources for employees including health education and access to online support. The free program is available in both English and Spanish.

"We congratulate The Children's Hospital for being the first to earn this designation," said Shelly Goodchild, state director of the March of Dimes Colorado chapter. "The hospital understands and is committed to the long-range benefits of providing a healthy work environment for its employees. We hope other businesses are inspired by Children's vision."

Goodchild added, "Helping moms have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies is just good sense. Two million working women will have babies this year, and infant and maternal care can be a bigger expenditure for employers after the fact than it needs to be."

"Our employees embrace The Children's Hospital's mission to improve the health of children, and we know the value of creating a family-friendly environment for our patients and our colleagues," said Jim Shmerling, president and chief executive officer. "We are proud to accept this award from the March of Dimes and thank them for recognizing the important role we all play in fostering healthy pregnancies and healthy babies."

Today's announcement comes in conjunction with the unveiling of a new Welcome Center as part of the NICU Family Support Program at The Children's Hospital. NICU Family Support is a March of Dimes program that offers emotional and informational resources to families of critically ill babies being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit (or NICU). The program housed at Children's was one of three original pilot sites nationwide when it launched a decade ago. Since then, it has served nearly 6,000 families from across the metro area, Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. Now, the NICU Family Support Program may be found in more than 100 hospitals across the U.S.