Fatima's Heart to bring perinatal health to Niagara

Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative receives Highmark Blue Fund Award

Press Release

Preeclampsia and cardiac conditions are leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality, and Fatima’s Heart: Mommy Meals and Miles aims to provide tools, education and support to Niagara County mothers at high risk.

The project, a partnership between Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center’s P3 Center and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County’s Veggie Van, will be made possible by a $150,000 grant from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Blue Fund.

Fatima’s Heart, inspired by and named for Fatima Mathews of Strong Heart 2 Soul, a local advocate for heart health who passed away earlier this year, will provide at-home blood pressure cuffs to prenatal and postpartum women at risk for preeclampsia and cardiac conditions.

Participants will be encouraged to attend workshops where they will find support, learn how and why to use their cuffs, and participate in a range of activities designed to promote cardiac health, including walking, art, yoga, nutrition and meditation.

Participants will receive a bag of local food for each workshop attended. The program also seeks to provide fitness tools, such as activity trackers and sneakers; and highlights the importance of listening to perinatal women when they express concerns about their health, as the CDC’s “Hear Her” campaign emphasizes.

“This grant from the Blue Fund will impact the heart health of many perinatal individuals in Niagara County by aligning local programs to provide evidence-informed education, motivational support, and tangible resources to those with significant risk factors for gestational hypertension and other perinatal cardiac conditions,” said Eileen Kineke, who leads the P3 Center at Niagara Falls Memorial, which is currently the only birthing hospital in Niagara County.

Fatima’s Heart is slated to begin in early 2025.