Category Archives: maternal and child health

Local Public Health Spreads Importance of Good Oral Health during Children’s Dental Health Month

By Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, NACCHO President and Executive Director of Harris County Public Health in Houston, Texas

The oral cavity, including the teeth and surrounding structures, are necessary for adequate nutrition, proper speech and a positive self-image.  Although tooth decay is largely preventable, it continues to be the most common chronic disease of early childhood.1  Dental health can impact school performance when a child has untreated tooth decay with resulting pain that affects their ability to concentrate, sleep at night or even attend school, “more than 51 million school hours are lost each year to dental related illness.”2 Taxpayers share approximately 11% of the $113.5 billion spent nationally on dental care expenditures, a percentage that has increased over the years as dental care utilization continues to increase among children.3  Children with cavities in their primary (baby) teeth are three times more likely to develop cavities in their permanent (adult) teeth which could contribute to broader health problems including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.4 Continue reading →

Story From the Field: Children’s Home Society of Florida

By Shannon Currie, MSL, Community School Director, Children’s Home Society of Florida and Harumi Reis-Reilly, MS, LDN, IBCLC, Lead Program Analyst, Breastfeeding Project, Safe, Healthy and Resilient Communities, NACCHO

Meeting Teen Moms Where They Are: An Innovative School-based Breastfeeding Program

Children’s Home Society and Commonsense Childbirth engaged the community of Pine Hills from community-based partnerships designed to demonstrate improvement in breastfeeding practices for registered participants in the early post-partum period, at 6 months and 12 months, as compared to 2013 statistical data collected from the Florida Department of Health. Children’s Home Society (CHS) of Florida provided Wellness Coaches to deliver peer lactation support and education through direct referral and online support through the Peer and Online Lactation Support (POLS) portal. Continue reading →

Laying the Infrastructure for Breastfeeding Partnerships in Lee County

By Emily Bernard, IBCLC, NACCHO consultant in collaboration with Carol Lawrence, PhD, MS, BSN, RNC-OB and Lori Riddle, Lori H. Riddle, RD, LD/N, CLC  Florida DOH and Lee Health

Synopsis

The Florida Department of Health in Lee County (DOH Lee) worked alongside three hospitals during NACCHO’s Reducing Breastfeeding Disparities through Peer and Professional Support project. DOH Lee’s project was designed to improve the county’s environment to support breastfeeding for black families through the establishment of a strategically developed coalition, as well as through the provision of advanced training of agency and hospital staff, other than nurses, to improve breastfeeding support within the hospital and the community. DOH Lee helped to implement the EMPower Breastfeeding Project by providing prenatal education and postpartum support to low-income, black families delivering in these enrolled hospitals. Continue reading →

Shifting Internal Policies and Systems to Create Breastfeeding Continuity of Care

By Carmen Vergara, RN, MPH (ESPERANZA HEALTH CENTERS) and Harumi Reis-Reilly, MS, CNS, CHES, IBCLC (NACCHO)  

Esperanza Health Centers, a former grantee of NACCHO’s Breastfeeding Initiative, is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) on the Southwest side of Chicago. The main population served is predominately low-income and Latino, and families in Esperanza’s service area experience significant economic, educational, and health inequities. Over 70% of area residents live 200% below the poverty level. Esperanza’s main services are adult primary care, pediatrics, prenatal care, and behavioral health. Additional public health services include programs related to children’s weight management, diabetes management, and physical activity. Continue reading →

Removing Barriers to Breastfeeding in Niagara County

istock_000000346530_mediumBy Elaine Roman, MA, BSN, RN, IBCLC, ANLC Director, Division of Public Health Planning and Emergency Preparedness, Public Information Officer & Elise Pignatora, MS, CLC Public Health Resource & SNS Support Officer, Niagara County Department of Health

For the past three years, Niagara County (NY) Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) has received the MRC Challenge Award from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) for their breastfeeding initiative, “Energizing Partnerships to Advance Support Networks for Breastfeeding Mothers.” Director of the Division of Public Health Planning in the Niagara County Department of Health Elaine Roman, MA, BSN, RN, IBCLC, ANLC and Public Health Resource and SNS Support Officer Elise Pignatora, MS, CLC led the lactation initiative. The Niagara County Department of Health’s inspiration for this intervention to the 215,000 population community came from the 2011 Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding.  “We also looked at the Healthy People 2020 numbers and realized our county was not performing the way we would like it to be in regards to initiation, duration, and exclusivity of breastfeeding in our county,” Roman said. Continue reading →

Using Triple P as a Model to Engage Communities and Prevent Child Maltreatment

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By Calondra Tibbs, MPH, Senior Director, Safe and Healthy Families, NACCHO

Positive relationships between caregivers and children play an important role in the health and well-being of children throughout their lives. Establishing safe, stable, and nurturing environments and relationships and limiting exposure to adverse experiences (e.g., trauma, abuse, and neglect) can potentially reduce poor health outcomes and behaviors in a child’s adolescent and adult lives.1 The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study demonstrated that increased exposure to maltreatment can increase risk for alcoholism and alcohol abuse, illicit drug use, liver disease, smoking, unintended pregnancies, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.1 Continue reading →

National Breastfeeding Month: Reducing Disparities through Peer and Professional Support

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By NACCHO’s Safe & Healthy Families Team

August is National Breastfeeding Month, a time to focus on promoting and protecting breastfeeding in the United States. Public health workers hope to use the month-long spotlight to generate awareness about the importance of breastfeeding, help ensure access to necessary lactation care and services for all women, including those in the workforce, and support all present and future breastfeeding mothers.

Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways mothers can prevent disease and protect the health of their infants. Continue reading →