AtlantiCare’s “Safe Beginnings” providers, patients, partners share program’s life-saving impact

“I feel like I’ve had a village caring for my baby, my family and me,” says schoolteacher Teela Grayson, of the care AtlantiCare has provided her before, during and after the birth of her third child last August.

Grayson, nearly 40 at the time of baby’s Grace’s birth, is a participant in AtlantiCare’s Safe Beginnings program, launched in 2021 for women, babies and families living in Atlantic City, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.

Safe Beginnings aims to make significant progress in Atlantic City’s high maternal and infant mortality rates. The program brings together the birthing team, including a neonatologist, a certified nurse midwife, certified doulas, registered nurses, a social worker, a peer specialist and other members of AtlantiCare’s Women’s and Children’s Services team. They collaborate to care for women, babies and families during pregnancy and in the critical months after childbirth, up to the baby’s first birthday.