MCH Library: Child Health Day Resources

Child Health Day, October 1, 2012:
Reducing Infant Mortality

National Child Health Day, originally proclaimed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1928, provides an opportunity to focus the nation's attention on the importance of the children's health and well-being.

The theme of this year's Child Health Day which takes place on October 1, is reducing infant mortality (IM). Although the United States boasts one of the world's lowest IM rates for preterm infants born between 24 and 36 week's gestation, the number of deaths among near- and full-term infants (>36 weeks) remains higher in the United States than in most of the industrialized world. Internationally, the United States now ranks 34th in IM—behind Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, and most European nations. In 2009 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), more than 26,000 infants in this country died before their first birthday.

Contents

General Resources
Areas of Targeted Improvement
Archive of Previous Child Health Day Materials

Baby in Crib

See also HRSA's MCHB's official Child Health Day page

General Resources

See the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's (DHHS) fact sheet, Preventing IM (rev. ed.) (2006), which describes the problem of IM in the United States and federal efforts to reduce infant mortality risks.
See the set of definitions and statistics presented by the National SUID/SIDS Resource Center, which describes the terms often associated with IM and pregnancy loss.
The MCH Library, funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA's) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) has developed an extensive resource guide, Infant Mortality and Pregnancy Loss Knowledge Path (2012), that provides resources for professionals, for families, and on factors that contribute to IM.
Celebrate Day 366: Every Baby Deserves a Chance. The National Healthy Start Association has developed this campaign to celebrate infants living beyond the first year of life.

Five Areas of Targeted Improvement

Resources, developed with support from a variety of federal sources, can be categorized according to the five areas of targeted improvement for IM reduction:

1. Reduce elective delivery at <39 weeks

Perinatal morbidity is higher in infants delivered before 39 weeks' gestation.

Why the Last Weeks of Pregnancy Count. Bilingual brochure for women explains why it is important not to schedule an induction or Cesarean section for non-medical reasons before 39 weeks' gestation. The brochure, which was developed by the March of Dimes, describes infant growth and development in the last few weeks of pregnancy and includes questions that women can ask their health professionals about scheduling delivery. Also following see YouTube video.
See the MCH Library resource brief, Preconception and Pregnancy: Resources for Families, for information about care, services, and support before and during pregnancy and websites about preconception and pregnancy. A separate section lists websites for pregnant adolescents.
Guttmacher A, Spong C, Lamp J, Murthy K, Moore A. 2012. Raising awareness: Late preterm birth and non-medically indicated inductions prior to 39 weeks. Bethesda, MD: National Child and Maternal Health Education Program.
Main E, Oshiro B, Chagolla B, Bingham D, Dang-Kilduff L, Kowalewski L. 2011. Elimination of non-medically indicated (elective) deliveries before 39 weeks gestational age: A California toolkit to transform maternity care. [rev. ed]. Sacramento, CA: California Department of Public Health, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Program.
Oshiro BT, Henry E, Wilson J, et al. 2009. Decreasing elective deliveries before 39 weeks of gestation in an integrated health care system. Obstetrics and Gynecology 113(4):804–811.

2. Expand access to interconception care through Medicaid

Text4baby. Free weekly messages by cell phone in English and Spanish to help pregnant women and new parents through pregnancy and their infants first year.
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): Find a Health Center. Directory of federally funded health centers that provide free or low-cost care, including prenatal care.
Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB): Prenatal Services. Hotline number to help pregnant women and mothers with newborns identify free or low-cost services for themselves and their infants. Telephone: (800) 311-BABY (311-2229); (800) 504-7081 (Spanish).
National Alliance for Hispanic Health: National Hispanic Prenatal Helpline. Call for a referral to local prenatal care services that provide care in English and Spanish. Telephone: (800) 504-7081 (English or Spanish).
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Patient Page. Fact sheets in a question-and-answer format about pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum care.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Pregnancy. Information in English and Spanish about healthy pregnancy and healthy pregnancy planning to prevent birth defects. Topics include folic acid, smoking and drinking alcohol during pregnancy, vaccinations, flu and pregnancy, medications, infections, HIV, West Nile virus, diabetes, high blood pressure, bleeding disorders, environmental and workplace exposures, genetics and family history, natural disasters, travel, and violence.
See the MCH Library resource brief, Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Services in Medicaid: Resources for Families, for information about care, services, and support before and during pregnancy and websites about preconception and pregnancy. A separate section lists websites for pregnant adolescents.
Salganicoff J, An J. 2008 Making the Most of Medicaid: Promoting the Health of Women and Infants with Preconception Care. Women’s Health Issues 18S: S41–S46.

3. Increase smoking cessation among pregnant women

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Smoking: How to Quit.
National Cancer Institute (NCI). Free Help to Quit Smoking. Provides a toll-free quit line, online chat service, and links to smoking cessation-materials.
SmokeFree.Gov. The section titled SmokeFree Women includes guidelines for pregnant women. This site also provides

An online Quit Guide.
Information on SmokefreeTXT. a free, smoking-cessation text messaging service designed for adolescents and young adults across the United States;
Information on the free Smokefree Smartphone Application. Developed by tobacco-control professionals and cessation counselors for the NCI.
Resources for health professionals. Includes the QuitNowTXT Message Library developed by NCI's Tobacco Control Reserach Branch to provide health departments, academic institutions, and government agencies with an algorithm and database of messages designed to serve as smoking-cessation intervention for individuals who are ready to quit smoking.

SmokeFreeMoms. Coordinated pilot project focused on providing pregnant women who wish to quit smoking with personalized, interactive, and evidence-based health text messages. DHHS partners in the project include the CDC, the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration. The SmokeFreeMoms text message library will be made publicly available and will be posted on HealthData.gov.
Smoking Cessation for Pregnancy and Beyond. Online continuing-education program for health professionals with case-based learning using simulated and actual patients, interactive activities, lectures, and links to additional resources.
Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy: A Clinician’s Guide to Helping Pregnant Women Quit Smoking. (2011). American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

4. Prevent SIDS/SUID

National SUID/SIDS Consortium. HRSA's MCHB has developed a consortium of four partners to reduce infant deaths and to support families affected by IM. All share the goal of reducing sudden infant deaths and assisting bereaved families, yet each center has a unique purpose and core responsibilities:

The SUID/SIDS Resource Center serves as a gateway for families and professionals to information on risk reduction, prevention, and bereavement for IM. Extensive electronic and print resources are available through the website.
The SUID/SIDS Program Support Center provides education, training, technical assistance, and bereavement support services to families and nonprofit, community-based perinatal, infant, and child mortality and pregnancy loss organizations. The Support Center operates a 24/7 grief line.
The SUID/SIDS Project IMPACT serves as the communications hub for a national network of fetal, infant, and child mortality programs at the state and local levels.
The SUID/SIDS Project at the National Center for Cultural Competence provides technical assistance and develops resources on cultural and linguistic competence to help programs effectively address how racial and ethnic disparities influence IM.

The Safe to Sleep campaign—formerly known as the Back to Sleep campaign—aims to educate parents, caregivers, and health professionals about ways to reduce the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related causes of infant death. Developed by the NIH/ Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health And Human Development.
Office of Minority Health: A Healthy Baby Begins with You. Information about this national campaign to raise awareness about IM with an emphasis on the African-American community. Includes campaign materials and IM disparities fact sheets.

5. Expand perinatal regionalization

Regionalized perinatal systems ensure that high-risk deliveries occur in the hospitals best equipped to optimize outcomes.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): Find a Health Center. Directory of federally funded health centers that provide free or low-cost care, including prenatal care.
Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB): Prenatal Services. Website and hotline number to help pregnant women and mothers with newborns identify free or low-cost services for themselves and their infants. Telephone: (800) 311-BABY (311-2229); (800) 504-7081 (Spanish).
CDC's Preconception Care and Health Care: Health Education Materials for Women, Men, and Teens.
First Candle: New and Expectant Parents. Information about having a healthy infant, breastfeeding, infant care, and ways to reduce the risk of SIDS.
Barfield WD, Kroelinger CD, White VA 2010. Collaborative Efforts to Address the Impact of Perinatal Regionalization on Infant Mortality. Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP): AMCHP Pulse. Also see resources collected for AMCHP’s 2009 Perinatal Regionalization Meeting.
Lasswell SM, Barfield WD, Rochat RW, et al. 2010. Perinatal regionalization for very low-birth-weight and very preterm infants: A meta-analysis. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 304(9):992–1000. Analyzes more than 30 years of published data on the key premise of perinatal regionalization: access to risk-appropriate perinatal care improves IM outcomes in very-low-birthweight and very-preterm deliveries.