The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition has given out its 1996 Twelfth Annual Achievement Awards. Winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony in Washington, DC on December 10.

One of the winners in the Innovative Single Project category is “How to Care for Your Baby and Yourself: A Teaching Videotape By and For the Hmong Community.” This one-hour videotape was produced by The Genesis Center of St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Narrated in Hmong and featuring a Hmong mother and her baby, the tape includes bamboo flute music. The music played a major role in the tape’s acceptance. The high-pitched sounds are reminiscent of the former homes of the Hmong highlands of Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia.

The tape has been effective in educating this key segment of the local population. And because it is common in the Hmong culture for many family members to gather for a baby’s birth, the tape is also being seen by grandmothers, siblings, extended family members, and others who may act as caregivers for the child. This way, the tape can educate an even broader cross section of the Hmong community.

The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Awards commend outstanding programs and projects that promote maternal and infant health through public education, outreach, and coalition building. Awards were given in four categories: Sustained Public Information Campaign; Innovative Single Project; State or Local Coalition Building; and Outreach to Hard to Reach Populations.

For more information about the Coalition or any of the award winners, call 202-863-2458.