To join, a woman simply calls to request a free personal wellness profile by mail that can be completed at home and returned to Bayhealth. Bayhealth compiles the results and sends a personalized plan for health and fitness improvement, as well as Womanfirst membership card and a brochure outlining the club's many benefits. Benefits include a special invitation to upcoming health screenings and programs reduced price membership at Bayhealth's Lifestyle Fitness Centers and access to a wide selection of maternity and infant care classes. Our free lecture series for women will address topics such as Caring for the Caregiver, Communication with your Teenager and Menopause. The report also reflects continued, steady progress in reducing the state's infant mortality and cancer mortality rates.
Further challenges remain, however, in the area of prenatal care and births to single mothers.
The report is compiled annually be the Delaware Health Statistics Center within DHSS after an analysis of marriage, divorce and death records. Of the total births, 11.6 percent had a midwife in attendance. After steadily increasing for a number of years, the state's cancer mortality rate dropped for the third consecutive five-year period. Heart disease, cancer and stoke, however, continued to be the three leading causes of death in Delaware and the nation. The median age at death changes slowly with the overall age being 73 in 1987 and 75 in 1997.