Background:
In St. Louis City and St. Louis County, in Missouri, rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, infant mortality, and inadequate prenatal care are highest among the African American population. Though improved preconception health may be the best way to reduce poor birth outcomes, interventions in the clinic setting fail to reach women who are not utilizing care. New channels for preconception health promotion must be explored in order to reach women in high-risk, medically underserved areas.

Objectives:
In urban African American communities, beauty stylists can promote healthy choices through established social networks, making stylist education a promising avenue for preconception health promotion. We describe an innovative education program for a beauty college that serves a predominantly low-income, African American community in St. Louis.

Methods:
Lessons on preconception, prenatal, and infant health, and on accessing health care resources, have been developed for a St. Louis beauty college. Each lesson includes strategies for initiating conversations with clients in the salon and communicating health topics in a sensitive manner. At the conclusion of the study, these health lessons will remain a permanent component of the beauty college curriculum. During the project period, students' knowledge, attitudes and conversation intentions are measured with pre/post tests, and clients are surveyed about their visits to the school's salon.

Results:
Early results from ongoing data collection show the program is successfully increasing student knowledge of preconception and prenatal health topics (p<.05). Students have found the preconception and prenatal health topics to be personally relevant, and have been engaged in the classroom sessions.

Conclusion and implications for practice:
Beauty colleges are a promising avenue for preconception health promotion. Future efforts should explore the best ways to integrate health education into beauty college curricula and to motivate student stylists to promote healthy choices to their clients.