Women’s Health and Family Services
The Northern Kentucky Health Department is committed to providing services to everyone, but we offer a number of services that are specifically for women and families. From breast and cervical cancer screenings, to family planning, to pregnancy and new-parent assistance, we are committed to helping women with needs that are unique to them.
Cancer Screening
The Health Department helps make sure that all Kentucky women have access to timely breast and cervical cancer screenings and diagnostic services.
Women between the ages of 40-64 without health coverage and are within 250 percent of the federal poverty guidelines can receive PAP screens, HPV tests, and mammograms at no cost at the Health Department’s four county health centers. If abnormalities are found during a screening, follow-up care — including additional screenings, biopsies, and cancer treatment — is available.
Women with private health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid should contact their primary care provider or OB/GYN to schedule the screenings.
Family Planning
The Health Department provides quality family planning at an affordable cost at its county health centers, including counseling, education, and pregnancy testing. A variety of family planning methods are also available, including birth control pills, contraceptive shots, contraceptive implants and condoms.
Services are charged on a sliding-fee scale based on income and family size. Kentucky Medicaid plans are accepted. No one is denied service because of an inability to pay.
Benefits of family planning include:
- Having children when you want them.
- Being able to prepare financially for your children.
- Being healthier before and during pregnancy.
- Not worrying about an unwanted pregnancy.
- Making your own decisions about birth control.
Not sure which method might be best? Bedsider.org has an interactive tool to help.
Other family planning resouces:
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
Bedsider.org | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
WIC Program
Each year, the Health Department assists more than 7,000 women in Northern Kentucky through the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Program, a federal program that provides specific nutritious foods along with nutrition and breastfeeding education at no cost.
Breastfeeding
The Health Department provides a variety of support for breastfeeding mothers, including:
Breastfeeding Support
Breastfeeding support is provided through the Health Department by dietitians and nurses, lactation consultants, lactation counselors, and peer counselors through breastfeeding classes, weight checks, and WIC services. A breast pump loaner program is available, upon approval, for WIC moms with documented medical necessity.
Peer Counseling
Peer counselors provide basic information about breastfeeding during pregnancy and after delivery to women participating in the WIC program. They are trained to help new mothers get off to a good start with breastfeeding and assist with meeting breastfeeding goals. The peer counselors are all moms who have successfully breastfed and have participated in WIC.
Public Breastfeeding
The Health Department offers education about Kentucky law, which protects public breastfeeding. The law prevents breastfeeding in public from being considered an act of public indecency. It also forbids any city or person from restricting a mother from breastfeeding in a location where she is otherwise allowed to be.
Returning to Work
Women can continue to breastfeed when returning to work. It just requires a little forethought and planning. Be sure to check with your health insurance to see if you qualify for a breast pump under the Affordable Care Act.
Break Time at Work
Federal law protects breastfeeding mothers in the workplace. Nursing mothers who work for a company with more than 50 employees are entitled to reasonable break time to express milk (can be unpaid), and employers must create or designate a lactation area – other than a bathroom – that is private.
Other Services
Paternity Acknowledgement
Parents who are not married and who did not have the father’s name listed on the birth certificate at the hospital may want to legally establish paternity by completing a paternity affidavit at the Health Department’s county health centers.
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HANDS
HANDS (Health Access Nurturing Development Services) is a voluntary home visitation program designed to assist pregnant women and new parents during their child’s first years of life. The Health Department contracts with Every Child Succeeds to provide HANDS services in Northern Kentucky.
Safe Sleep
Each year, thousands of babies die from SIDS or other sleep-related causes. The Health Department offers a series of Safe Sleep steps that have been determined to lower the risk of a baby dying.