Search Results: MCHLine

Annotation: This volume presents a joint project of the March of Dimes and the Future Homemakers of America, which trains adolescent to provide peer education to other adolescents on the subject of preventing birth defects. It discusses reports from peer educators, the problem of birth defects, facts about preventable problems and project possibilities, suggestions for getting started, communication techniques, and a list of do's and don'ts. The volume is illustrated with photographs and drawings.

Keywords: Adolescent parents, Adolescent pregnancy, Communication, Congenital abnormalities, Peer education

Annotation: Based on data from the U.S. Zika Pregnancy and Infant Registry (USZPIR) and a 2019 multidisciplinary leadership meeting organized by AMCHP, March of Dimes, and CDC, this report outlines the long-term challenges and preparedness needs for supporting children and families affected by the Zika virus. It highlights that approximately 14% of infants born to mothers with confirmed or possible Zika infection experienced health problems, requiring comprehensive, long-term support across multiple systems. The document identifies seven key areas for systems improvement, and for each area, it provides detailed recommendations for both individual/family needs and systems-level responses, emphasizing the importance of sustainable healthcare coverage, coordinated care systems, cultural competency, and ongoing surveillance. The report concludes that states must assess and strengthen their infrastructure, leverage existing programs, and foster collaborative partnerships to better serve both Zika-affected families and all children with special healthcare needs.

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Keywords: Title V programs, Children with special health care needs, Disaster planning, Health screening, Congenital abnormalities, Infant health, Maternal health

Annotation: These materials and resources are designed to assist state program staff and others interested in promoting birth defects prevention during "January is Birth Defects Prevention Month." Contents include fact sheets, pamphlets, and posters about birth defects, preconception health, infections and immunizations, and healthy lifestyle. Topics include what you should know about birth defects, including congenital heart defects; folic acid and fetal alcohol syndrome; toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, and tips on preventing infections during pregnancy; and diabetes, smoking, and domestic violence. The resources are available in English and Spanish.

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Keywords: Congenital abnormalities, Gestational diabetes, Preconception care, Prevention, Public awareness campaigns, Reproductive health, Spanish language materials

Annotation: This website provides information and resources for health care professionals, pregnant women, and others about zika virus disease. Contents include data; information for specific population groups; communication resources such as videos, fact sheets, posters, and infographics; and scientific resources including links to information collections by publisher, emergency bulletins, links to U.S. and international governmental resources, and a biomedical literature search tool. Topics include symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment; prevention; transmission and risks; areas with zika; and vector surveillance and control.

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Keywords: Brain diseases, Communicable disease control, Congenital abnormalities, Consumer education materials, Diagnosis, Disease prevention, Disease transmission, Population surveillance, Pregnant women, Public awareness materials, Research, Resource materials, Resources for professionals, Risk factors, Therapeutics, Virus diseases

Annotation: This toolkit, which is geared toward public health professionals, offers tips for effectively delivering messages about birth defects to a variety of audiences, including state and local public and environmental health professionals, decision makers, and the interested public. The toolkit can be used to help meet the communication goals set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. Topics include goals and guiding principles, environmental public health before and after tracking, the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network: a timeline, key messages and talking points, facts, a sample article, and social media examples.

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Keywords: Communication, Congenital abnormalities, Educational materials, Mass Media, Prevention, Public awareness campaigns, Public awareness materials, Public heath

Annotation: This book traces the evolution of newborn screening over the last 50 years, with stories from families affected by newborn screening conditions and portraits of the health professionals who support the newborn screening system. Contents include an outline of the origins of newborn screening, health implications of test results and the impact on treatment, the role of science and laboratory testing, how policy contributes to provide newborn screening, and how future screening research, practices, and policies can help improve the survival and growth of newborn infants.

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Keywords: Congenital abnormalities, History, Infant health, Neonatal mortality, Neonatal screening, Newborn infants

Annotation: This issue brief provides recommendations for planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating comprehensive critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) programs. The brief highlights efforts in Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, and Utah to establish collaboration between programs, particularly newborn screening and birth defects programs, to effectively implement CCHD screening and follow-up. Topics include key elements of the state approaches, data considerations, and program challenges and successes. The role of the Title V MCH Services Block Grant is discussed.

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Keywords: Barriers, Collaboration, Congenital abnormalities, Congenital heart defects, Indiana, Michigan, Neonatal screening, New Jersey, State programs, Title V programs, Utah

Annotation: This report presents data on children's environmental health. Topics include (1) environments and contaminants such as air, indoor, drinking water, chemicals in food, contaminated lands, and climate change; (2) biomonitoring, such as lead, mercury, pcbs, and others; and (3) health concerns such as respiratory diseases, childhood cancer, neurodevelopomental disorders, obesity, and adverse birth outcomes. The report also covers birth defects and contaminants in schools and child care facilities. An appendix also describes the alignment of these indicators with Healthy People 2020 objectives.

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Keywords: Air pollution, Chemicals, Child health, Congenital abnormalities, Disease, Environmental exposure, Environmental health, Environmental pollution, Lead, Pesticides, Water pollution, Women's health

Annotation: This chart is intended for women who have diabetes and want to get pregnant. It provides information on the potential effects of uncontrolled diabetes before and during pregnancy. Tips on controlling blood sugar to help prevent problems and links to additional resources on diabetes and pregnancy are included.

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Keywords: Adverse effects, Congenital abnormalities, Infants, Preconception, Pregnancy in diabetics, Self care, Women

Annotation: In this video presentation, NICHD Director Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., describes the role of research in understanding, preventing, and treating birth defects. In his talk, Dr. Guttmacher provides some basic facts about birth defects and recounts how research led to the discovery that the vitamin folic acid could reduce the chances of neural tube defects. He also describes the role of model organisms, such as the zebrafish, in understanding developmental processes as an important step in uncovering the origins of birth defects. The video concludes with an introduction to the new technologies of systems biology and chemical genomics, which promise to yield new insights leading to greater understanding of birth defects and their eventual prevention and treatment.

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Keywords: Audiovisual materials, Congenital abnormalities, Folic acid, Genomics, Neural tube defects, Prevention, Research

Annotation: This fact sheet describes a procedure to analyze cell-free fetal DNA circulating in maternal blood as a noninvasive prenatal screening and testing effort for trisomy 21 and other fetal chromosome abnormalities. It outlines test characteristics, detection rate and accuracy, reporting results and their implications for pregnant women, testing costs and insurance coverage, what to ask laboratories offering the test, performance comparison to other forms of prenatal testing or screening, counseling women about screening and testing options, and general background.

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Keywords: Congenital abnormalities, Down syndrome, Genetic screening, Prenatal care, Trisomy

Annotation: This fact sheet highlights innovative and effective ways that state Title V agencies utilize birth defects surveillance systems to improve maternal and child health. Eleven states and territories identified in the fact sheet. The state performance measure and the objective or intent are described.

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Keywords: Congenital abnormalities, State initiatives, Surveillance, Title V programs

Annotation: This report provides information about the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. The report describes the center's vision for the future and its commitment to achieving important health outcomes and discusses its background and history, partners and constituents, mandates and authorities, public health approach, and relationship between priorities and Healthy People goals. Also presented are the following divisions and their strategic plans: Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Division of Blood Disorders, and Division of Human Development and Disability.

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Keywords: Congenital abnormalities, Developmental disabilities, Federal agencies, Human development, Public health, Strategic plans

Annotation: This learning module is designed to increase nurses' knowledge of genetics and to provide a sound baseline on which to build nursing care for pregnant women, their infants, and their families. The module includes an update of genetic discoveries for inherited diseases and birth defects, as well as discussion of genetics-related ethical issues and nursing responsibilities for reproducing families. Introductory materials describe the module format, student evaluation, independent study, facilitated study, cognitive objectives, and expected practice outcomes. Key concepts, a glossary, and pre- and postinstructional measurement sections are also included. Section topics include basic genetic information, principles of inheritance: Mendel's laws, principles of nontraditional inheritance patterns, multifactorial inheritance, the importance of genetic family history, genetic screening, prevention of birth defects, and genetic testing. Additional sections review genetic counseling, nursing and the future of genetics. Additional sections include clinical applications, group discussion items, an independent study test, an independent study application, references, and other supplementary materials. The module has been approved for continuing education credits for registered nurses in New York and California.

Keywords: Congenital abnormalities, Educational materials, Genetics education, Nurse midwives, Nursing education, Professional education

Annotation: This website provides information about infant mortality in Milwaukee. It includes an overview of infant mortality and discusses leading causes, other factors affecting the infant mortality rate, and Fetal Infant Mortality Review. Links to additional infant mortality resources are provided.

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Keywords: Congenital abnormalities, Fetal death, Infant death, Infant death review committees, Infant mortality, Premature infants, Racial factors, Risk factors, SIDS, State surveys, Wisconsin

Annotation: This report presents 2006 data on new checkbox items exclusive to the 2003 U.S. Standard Certificate of Live Birth. Information is shown for checkboxes in the following categories: (1) risk factors in the pregnancy, (2) obstetric procedures, (3) characteristics of labor and delivery, (4) method of delivery, (5) abnormal conditions of the newborn, and (6) congenital abnormalities of the newborn. Methods, results, and a discussion are presented.

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Keywords: Birth certificates, Childbirth, Congenital abnormalities, Newborn infants, Pregnancy, Risk factors, Statistical data

Annotation: Using data from the National Vital Statistics for the years 1978-1988 and the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY), this paper evaluates the consequences of minimum drinking age laws (MLDA) on poor birth outcomes. The paper provides background and discusses previous literature and data, presents the empirical strategy, discusses the effect of MLDA laws on birth outcomes (including birthweight, prematurity, and congenital anomalies) and on the composition of births (i.e., the composition of maternal and paternal characteristics and changes in drinking and sexual behavior associated with MLDA laws), evidence from NLSY, and the effect of MLDA on prenatal behaviors.

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Keywords: Adolescent behavior, Adolescent parents, Adolescent sexuality, Alcohol consumption behavior, Blacks, Congenital abnormalities, Infant health, Legislation, Low birthweight, Pregnancy outcome, Prematurity

Annotation: This report summarizes 4 discussions held by a 21 member panel during 2007 concerning the feasibility of a biobank in Connecticut and the value it might add to the study of preterm births and birth defects. Biobank models; funding sources; possible increases in research potential; affordability, ethical, legal, and social issues; and the likely public and private perceptions of such a bank all receive examination. Findings and recommendations conclude the report.

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Keywords: Bioethics, Budgets, Congenital abnormalities, Connecticut, Genetic markers, Genetics, Low birthweight, Prenatal screening, Preterm birth, State programs

Annotation: This report presents an overview of major birth defects and developmental disabilities (autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, and learning disabilities), as well as an assessment of some recent public health successes and a look at several ongoing challenges. Conclusions, recommendations, and endnotes are included. Statistical information is presented in tables throughout the report. The report also includes one appendix: a glossary of terms and acronyms.

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Keywords: Autism, Cerebral palsy, Congenital abnormalities, Developmental disabilities, Learning disabilities, Public health

Annotation: This report describes efforts that states can make to improve birth outcomes. The report presents a summary of the problem of poor birth outcomes in the United States, explains the meaning of poor birth outcome, discusses the costs of poor birth outcomes, provides recommendations for improving poor birth outcomes and reducing costs associated with high-risk births, explains how specific states are using Medicaid to provide family planning services, discusses ways that states can help reduce the use of harmful substances, and offers a conclusion. Statistical information is presented in tables throughout the report. The report concludes with resources for improving birth outcomes and a list of endnotes.

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Keywords: Alcohol use during pregnancy, Childbirth, Congenital abnormalities, Costs, Family planning, High risk infants, High risk pregnancy, Infant mortality, Low birthweight, Low birthweight infants, Maternal mortality, Medicaid, Pregnancy, Premature infants, State programs, Substance abusing pregnant women