Shortly after giving birth, many employed women return to the workplace while still in the process of breastfeeding. The Surgeon General and National Institutes of Health have called for a more supportive work environment that arranges accommodations for mothers returning after leave. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, provides a section that […]
Category: Maternal health
Resource: Supporting Maternal Mental Health in Public Health Nutrition Practice
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than 400,000 infants are born to mothers who are depressed each year. Perinatal depression is the most underdiagnosed obstetric complication in the United States. The Association of State Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN) released its latest brief on the topic of maternal mental health, titled “Supporting Maternal Mental […]
Student Spotlight: How Did Sonja Ausen Anifrani Use Technology to Improve Maternal Health in Uganda?
#UMNMCH Student, Sonja Ausen Anifrani (MPH 2018), talks about why she chose the University of Minnesota and her field experience abroad in Kampala, Uganda. View all of our Student Spotlights to learn more about the Maternal and Child Health Program at the University of Minnesota. Read Student Spotlight Archives Interested in learning more about getting a degree […]
Resource: March of Dimes IMPLICIT Interconception Care Toolkit
March of Dimes works to support healthy mothers and families throughout communities. In collaboration with the Family Medicine Education Consortium, the organization has launched the IMPLICIT (Interventions to Minimize Preterm and Low Birthweight Infants Using Continuous Improvement) Toolkit. The Toolkit focuses on interconception care (ICC) and is aimed to be used by medical and/or public […]
Resource: Family Voices IMPACT Project Website
The Family Voices IMPACT Project has launched a new website to help families find health and wellness information they can trust, understand, and use in their day-to-day lives. Funded through a grant from the Maternal Child Health Bureau, the IMPACT Project focuses on maternal and child health policies and programs for the benefit of all children […]
Resource: Dr. Hardeman’s Race and Birth Outcomes Podcast
Rachel Hardeman, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Policy & Management at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health. She focuses on conversations around racism in public health, and is contributing to a new body of knowledge that will enrich our understanding of how racism plays out in healthcare and impacts […]
Resource: Toolkit for Improving Perinatal Safety
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) developed the Safety Program for Perinatal Care (SPPC) toolkit in order to improve the patient safety culture of labor and delivery units, and to decrease maternal and neonatal adverse events resulting from poor communication and system failures. The SPPC is organized around three program pillars, which include teamwork […]
Resource: Title V Integration Toolkit
Various states and programs have successfully used Title V data to adapt their approaches to improving the outcomes of children and families. In order to spotlight this progress and provide examples for other states and programs, the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP), in collaboration with AEM corporation, created the Title V Integration […]
Resource: Opioid Prescribing
Despite recent declines, opioid prescribing is still high and inconsistent across the US. The CDC created this website covering statistics of the problem, what can be done, and resources for sharing. You can also download the Vitalsigns infographic here.
Resource: Zika Virus: Protecting Pregnant Women & Babies
Zika virus infection (Zika) during pregnancy can cause damage to the brain, microcephaly, and congenital Zika syndrome, a pattern of conditions in the baby that includes brain abnormalities, eye defects, hearing loss, and limb defects. In 2016, 44 states reported cases of pregnant women with evidence of Zika. The April issue of VitalSigns from […]
Resource: eModules from AIM (Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health)
The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) Program was founded as a solution to help improve maternal outcomes across the US. AIM is a national data-driven quality improvement initiative based on proven approaches to improving maternal safety. The AIM eModules have been designed to be interactive and collaborative. There’s an introduction to the eModules, […]
Resource: AMCHP’s Life Course Metrics Project
As MCH programs develop new programming guided by a life course framework, measures are needed to determine the success of their approaches. In response to this emerging issue, AMCHP (the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs) launched a project designed to identify and promote a standardized set of indicators that can be applied to measure progress […]
Resource: Recommendations for Preventive Services for Women–Abridged Report
The Women’s Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI), a collaborative effort between health professional societies and consumer organizations that are experts in women’s health, recently released the 34-page Abridged Report, Recommendations for Preventive Services for Women. Presented by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), it was submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, […]
Resource: Minnesota Department of Health’s MCH Section
The Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) MCH Section provides statewide leadership and public health information essential for promoting, improving or maintaining the health and well-being of women, children and families throughout Minnesota. The overall role of the MCH Section within Minnesota’s health care delivery environment is: to assess the health needs of mothers, children, and their […]
Student Spotlight: How did a guest lecturer help Sam Lo “land” on her area of study?
Sam Lo (MPH 2016) talks about how her background in law led to public health, and how a guest lecturer in her Foundations of MCH Leadership (PubH 6630) course created an opportunity for her to undertake important work that has direct impact on pregnant incarcerated women. With funding through HRSA, the Center for Leadership Education in MCH was able to […]