BabyReady in South Dakota: How Enhanced Medicaid Prenatal Care Delivers Better Beginnings

What is a touchpoint?

A child’s brain undergoes rapid development during the first three years of life, making this period crucial for their overall growth. Each new brain connection formed during this time has been referred to as a “touchpoint,” which is why we named our informational webinar series after this important milestone in a child’s development. Through these hour-long, interactive webinars, our goal is to help you create your own touchpoints across South Dakota, contributing to the healthy development of all the state’s children.

BabyReady in South Dakota: How Enhanced Medicaid Prenatal Care Delivers Better Beginnings

In this presentation, Valerie Kelly, Program Manager, demystifies South Dakota’s BabyReady program—Medicaid’s enhanced approach to prenatal and postpartum care. She’ll cover the “why” behind the model, the “how” of clinic enrollment and care coordination, and the early signals of impact on maternal and infant outcomes. Attendees will see what implementation looks like on the ground, barrier-reduction strategies, and cross-sector partner roles.

Participants will:

• Learn about the core components of BabyReady (eligibility, care coordination, enhanced payments) and how they integrate into routine prenatal and postpartum care.
• Understand common access barriers for pregnant patients and identify at least two BabyReady strategies the program uses to address common barriers.
• Understand BabyReady metrics (early prenatal engagement, adequate visit completion, comprehensive postpartum visit) and how they are used to improve the program and outcomes for mothers and babies.

Speaker: Valerie Kelly, SD Department of Social Services

Valerie Kelly is the Program Manager for the SD BabyReady Program.  Valerie has been with DSS for 20 years, 9 of which has been with SD Medicaid.  Valerie received her B.S. and Master’s from Black Hills State University.  Valerie is married with 2 daughters (27 and 21), and lives on an acreage outside of Pierre. Valerie is excited to share information about the new BabyReady program and looks forward to a future of improved maternal-fetal outcomes. 

CEUs: SD Board of Social Work Examiners This organization (University of South Dakota – Provider #1048) is approved as a provider for continuing education by the South Dakota Board of Social Work Examiners. Social workers will receive up to 1.0 Continuing Education clock hours for participating in this course.