Maternal and Child Health Resource Repository

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., accepted the recommendation of her agency’s independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to administer Pfizer’s pediatric COVID-19 vaccine to children between the ages of five and 11.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., last night accepted the recommendation of her agency’s independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to administer Pfizer’s pediatric COVID-19 vaccine to children between the ages of 5 and 11. The following information provides a summary of the important details for health care providers and clinicians.

In this Members in Action podcast featuring maternal and child health efforts, Aisha Syeda, program manager at the AHA is joined by leaders from Northwell Health.

As recommended by its advisory committee on preventing lead exposure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reduced the blood lead reference value for children from 5 micrograms per deciliter to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter to reflect declining blood lead levels in U.S. children aged 1-5.

Please join the American Hospital Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association as pediatricians and hospital leaders discuss how doctors can work with parents to build trust in the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for children, and offer key strategies to protect kids and keep them in school.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced the HHS Racial Equity in Postpartum Care Challenge, a competition dedicated to upgrading postpartum care for Black and Native women enrolled in the Medicaid or CHIP programs.

Depression during pregnancy and postpartum depression are among the most common complications of pregnancy, even higher than hypertension and diabetes, said Alpa Shah, M.D., director of the Perinatal Mental Health Clinic at Marshfield Clinic Health System.

Joining Aisha Syeda, program manager at the AHA is Dr. Nirmaljit Dhami, the medical director of the inpatient perinatal psychiatry at El Camino Health; and Dr. Alpa Shah, director of the Perinatal Mental Health Clinic at Marshfield Clinic Health System.

Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital (HDVCH), part of Spectrum Health, is a 234-bed comprehensive children’s hospital in downtown Grand Rapids, that not only serves the needs of the local community, but also is a regional referral center for Spectrum Health and western Michigan. During the pandemic, HDVCH and community partners responded quickly to the increased need for behavioral health services and found new ways to provide them.

El Camino Health in Mountain View, Calif., will host a free virtual symposium Oct. 7 on maternal mental health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged clinicians to educate pregnant patients about the benefits and safety of COVID-19 vaccination; and encourage and offer vaccination to patients who are pregnant, recently pregnant or might become pregnant to increase vaccination rates in this population.

The webinar will highlight strategies for identifying risk factors for poor maternal mental health, and developing a mental health program to improve outcomes, reduce stigma and increase access to support networks.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $342 million to expand home visiting services to pregnant women and parents with young children in U.S. states and territories.

The House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees approved their legislative recommendations for the Build Back Better Act, which will be considered under budget reconciliation.

Postpartum hemorrhages occurs in 1-5% of women who have a baby. In this Members in Action podcast, Aisha Syeda, program manager of strategic initiatives at the AHA, is joined by maternal health experts at The Children's Hospital of San Antonio to discuss an obstetrics simulation program, Practicing for Patients, designed to help hospitals conduct simulation drills on their labor and delivery unit to provide better care to women who experience a postpartum hemorrhage or hypertensive emergency during pregnancy.

Postpartum hemorrhages occur in 1%-5% of women who have a baby.

In this webinar, learn how the Institute for Health Care Improvement facilitated a rapid improvement network to support health care organizations and their community partners to design and implement strategies for improving black maternal health. These organizations will share their outcomes, along with recommendations for addressing implicit bias, fostering cross-sectoral partnerships and amplifying the voices of Black women.

The National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health is accepting comments through Sept. 15 to assist with identifying research gaps and pitfalls in clinical practice related to women’s health issues.

In this Members in Action podcast, Aisha Syeda, program manager at the AHA, speaks with Nicole Lamborne, M.D., vice president of clinical operations for women’s services at Virtua Health in southern New Jersey, who shares how the health system identified gaps in maternal care and invested in laborists, nurses and evidence-based practices to lower C-section, hypertension, hemorrhage and sepsis rates.

In this Members in Action podcast featuring maternal and child health efforts, Aisha Syeda, program manager at the AHA speaks with Dr. Nicole Lamborne, the vice president of clinical operations for women’s services at Virtua Health in New Jersey. Dr. Lamborne will share how Virtua identified gaps in maternal care, and invested in laborists, nurses and evidence-based practices to lower C-section, hypertension, hemorrhage and sepsis rates.