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Center for Infant and Child Loss
The Center for Infant & Child Loss works with Maryland families and communities facing the sudden unexpected death of their infant or child as they learn to live with their loss. The Center is committed to increasing the understanding of sudden infant and child death, risk reduction practices, grief, and compassionate intervention.
Their WEBSITE offers resources on counselling and support services, outreach and education, risk reduction and current research.
Maternal Depression - Improving Diagnosis and Treatment in Maryland
Maternal depression occurs anywhere from pregnancy up to 12 months following delivery, and is the most common complication of pregnancy, affecting 10–15 percent of all women. With support from the Aetna Foundation, the Center for a Healthy Maryland is building on previous efforts to
enable clinicians to diagnose and manage maternal depression by increasing their awareness of the disorder and providing them with tools for use with their pregnant and postpartum patients.
Improved diagnosis and treatment of maternal depression will result in more women getting the necessary care to better care for themselves, their infants and family.
Resources
Postpartum Depression Helpline: 1-800-773-6667 available 24 hours, 7 days a week.PRAMS- Maryland Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monotoring System
Focus on Maternal Depression Newsletter
Healthy New Moms Campaign to End Depression During & After Pregnancy
FASD – Preventing Alcohol Use During Pregnancy
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a broad term that describes the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. These effects may include physical, mental, behavioral, and/or learning disabilities with possible life-long implications. FASD is also one of the leading-known preventable causes of mental retardation and birth defects.
The Center applied the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review approach to examine why some women drink during pregnancy, the current services and resources available, and opportunities for working with the community to assist at-risk women in avoiding alcohol use during pregnancy.
The Maryland FASD Coalition is working to increase awareness of the effects of alcohol use during pregnancy among health and social services professionals, substance abuse treatment program staff, juvenile services agency staff, the faith community, businesses and industry. Please visit the Maryland FASD Coalition for more information.
HIV/AIDS - Preventing Perinatal HIV Transmission
In past years, an estimated 92% of AIDS cases reported among children less than 13 years old in the US were attributed to perinatal or mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Transmission can occur during pregnancy, labor, delivery or breastfeeding. Recent reductions in perinatal transmission are attributed to routine screening of pregnant women to identify those infected with HIV and the use of anti-retroviral drugs for treatment and prophylaxis. Rates of HIV transmission from an infected mother to her infant have been reduced to less than 2%, compared to 25%-30% with no interventions.
The Baltimore Regional Perinatal Advisory Group (RPAG) works to optimize the health of pregnant women and newborn infants in the Baltimore region through education, advocacy and information sharing. RPAG has developed “Preventing Perinatal HIV Transmission: A Clinician’s Toolkit for Testing Counseling and Referral,” which can be accessed at www.baltimorecountymd.gov/go/perinatal.
For more information about HIV/AIDS, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Please click here for more information on the Center for a Healthy Maryland’s activities on HIV/AIDS, including the 2007 changes to the HIV/AIDS reporting law.
Maryland Maternal Mortality Review
The Maternal Mortality Review Program examines deaths among resident women while pregnant or within one year of having been pregnant, in order to identify opportunities to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. The Program is conducted in collaboration with MedChi’s Maternal and Child Health Subcommittee, the Center for Maternal and Child Health, and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The Program develops recommendations and identifies strategies to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, taking into account both medical and non-medical factors contributing to the death, while examining quality and content of care. For the past several years, the Program has reviewed an average of 38 cases per year.
For more information, please visit the Maryland State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Maryland Fetal and Infant Mortality Review
Maryland’s Infant Mortality Rate has consistently ranked above the national average, even though Maryland is one of the wealthiest states in the country. The Maryland Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) is a statewide effort to better understand the issues associated with fetal and infant mortality and morbidity, and to develop strategies to improve perinatal systems of care, both at the local and state level.
MedChi works in partnership with the Center for Maternal and Child Health, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to provide technical assistance to the 18 local FIMR programs that cover the 24 local jurisdictions in Maryland: Baltimore City, 15 county-based, and two regional programs on the Eastern Shore. Technical Assistance includes attending Case Review or Community Action Team meetings, conducting regional and statewide Advisory Board meetings, providing trainings, assisting with action planning, and producing an annual report of local program activities.
For more information about Fetal and Infant Mortality Review, visit www.NFIMR.org.
For more information about Maternal and Perinatal Health Programs in Maryland, please visit the Family Health Administration.
Contact Information
For more information on Maternal and Child Health Programs, please contact:
Robyn Jones, M.P.H.
Program Coordinator
Phone: 410-539-0872 or 800-492-1056, ext. 332
Fax: 410-649-4131
Email: rjones@medchi.org
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