Search Results: MCH Organizations

Annotation: A Heartbreaking Choice provides resources and support for expectant parents who have received a diagnosis that their unborn child has a serious fetal anomaly or other live-threatening health problem that makes it unlikely that the baby will survive and thrive. For those who have made the decision to end their pregnancy when faced with such a grim diagnosis, this organization provides support groups, an online discussion forum, a confidential list service, an online memorial for grieving parents, personal stories, and feature articles to help these parents cope with their loss.

Keywords: Congenital abnormalities, Fetal death, Grief, Perinatal bereavement, Perinatal mortality, Pregnancy loss, Support groups

Annotation: The Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina (APPCNC) serves as a statewide clearinghouse and network for adolescent pregnancy prevention resources and helps local communities to develop prevention councils. The coalition maintains a library and resource center of more than 1,000 pamphlets, brochures, films, videotapes, curricula, national and state reports, and other materials on adolescent pregnancy issues. Services to consumers also include referrals. APPCNC sponsors conferences and training seminars, and publishes a catalog and newsletter. It also provides materials in Spanish.

Keywords: Adolescent pregnancy, Coalition, North Carolina, Prevention programs, Referals, Self help clearinghouses

Annotation: Advocates for Youth is dedicated to creating programs and advocating for policies that help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. Advocates provides information, training, and strategic assistance to youth-serving organizations, policy makers, youth activists, and the media in the United States and the developing world. Advocates publishes newsletters, as well as provider- and consumer-oriented publications on adolescent reproductive health. A publications catalog is available. Some materials are available in French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Keywords: Adolescent pregnancy, Adolescents, Decision making skills, Information sources, Life skills, Peer education, Programs, Publications, Reproductive health, Sexual behavior, Sexuality education, Spanish language materials, Women

Annotation: Aiding Mothers and Fathers Experiencing Neonatal Death (AMEND) offers support and encouragement to parents who have lost an infant. Bereaved parents have one-to-one contact with a trained counselor who has also experienced a loss due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death. Several local chapters exist without formal national affiliation. St. Louis AMEND was established in 1974. Los Angeles AMEND was established in 1977 and can be reached at P.O. Box 30, Harbor City, CA 90710-0030; (818) 887-7999. Services to consumers include publications and reference information. Some materials are available in Spanish.

Keywords: Grief, Neonatal death, Perinatal bereavement, Perinatal mortality, Pregnancy loss, Spontaneous abortion, Support groups, Parent support services

Annotation: The Alliance for Young Families (now known as the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy) is a nonprofit consortium of health and human service providers in Massachusetts. The Alliance's mission is to provide statewide leadership to prevent adolescent pregnancy and to promote quality services for pregnant and parenting teens and their children through policy analysis, education, research, and advocacy. Services to consumers include referrals, reference information, and publications. The Alliance sponsors conferences, workshops, and training seminars.

Keywords: Adolescent pregnancy, Parenting

Annotation: The American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) educates women and families about the birth center alternative, promotes standards for quality care through licensure and certification, and provides a forum for communication among birth centers. The association has a resource center of statistical information and publishes standards, reports, a membership directory, and audiovisual materials. Services to consumers include referrals. ABCC offers a multimedia Web site with information, stories, statistics and directories for all (clinicians and consumers). The association also publishes a newsletter and sponsors workshops and conferences. AABC was formerly called the National Association of Childbearing Centers (NACC).

Keywords: Childbirth, Birthing centers, Information services, Pregnancy, Statistics

Annotation: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is a professional membership organization for obstetrician–gynecologists. The College produces practice guidelines for health care professionals and educational materials for patients; provides practice management and career support; facilitates programs and initiatives to improve women’s health; and advocates for members and patients. Health topics of interest include pregnancy, prenatal care; childbirth, postpartum care, immunization, reproductive health, health equity, adolescent health, breastfeeding, preventive care, domestic violence, and smoking cessation, among others. Committee opinions, consensus guidelines, patient education,and online CME course work are among the materials available on the website (some free-of-charge). ACOG hosts an online store; publishes Obstetrics & Gynecology (a peer-reviewed journal), and hosts an annual conference.

Keywords: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Breastfeeding, Childbirth, Contraception, Domestic violence, Gynecology, Health education, Legislation, Obstetrics, Postpartum care, Pregnancy, Prenatal care, Professional education, Professional ethics, Professional societies, Publications, Reproductive health, Vaccines, Women', s health

Annotation: The American Fertility Association (AFA) works to serve the needs of men and women confronting infertility issues; to support families during struggles with infertility and adoption; to educate the public about reproductive disease; and to raise awareness and fight for social and legislative change around infertility issues. The AFA provides a range of services designed to help people gather information about medical treatments, options, coping techniques, legal and insurance issues, and other concerns. One of its goals is to help couples make informed decisions throughout the infertility process. The AFA's services focus around increasing awareness of the medical and social issues around reproductive health and infertility, as well as prevention efforts that target young people to help them make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive lives.

Keywords: Pregnancy, Adoption, Fertility, Infertility, Information services, Public awareness campaigns, Referrals, Reproduction, Reproductive health, Reproductive technologies, Support groups

Annotation: The American Lung Association (ALA) is a voluntary health organization dedicated to the prevention, cure, and control of all types of lung disease through public health education, advocacy, and research. ALA monitors air quality and publishes reports that detail the effects of tobacco, pollutants, and other environmental factors on the air, our communities, and our world. The Web site provides access to downloadable reports; indepth resources related to lung health, lung disease, and air quality at home, at school, outdoors, and at work. Anyone can register to receive ALA's free electronic newsletters.

Keywords: Asthma, Infants, Public health education, Lung diseases, Prevention, Respiratory distress syndrome, SIDS, Smoking during pregnancy

Annotation: The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), formerly known as the American Fertility Society, seeks to extend knowledge of all aspects of fertility and reproduction. Members include gynecologists, obstetricians, urologists, reproductive endocrinologists, veterinarians, research workers, and others interested in the reproductive health of humans and animals. Services to consumers include referrals, publications, and reference information. ASRM sponsors conferences, training seminars, and workshops and publishes a newsletter and a journal. Some materials are available n Spanish.

Keywords: Fertility, Infertility, Pregnancy, Reproduction, Reproductive technologies

Annotation: Answer at Rutgers University, formerly the Network for Family Life Education, specializes in training adults to deliver effective sexuality-education programs to children and youth. It provides resources, advocacy, training and technical assistance in support of age-appropriate, balanced, comprehensive sexuality education. Answer's Web site, Sex, Etc., is about teens for teens, and covers girls' health; guys' health; sex; love and relationships; gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex youth; deciding about sex; birth control and condoms; sexually transmitted diseases; pregnancy; teen parenting; abortion; adoption; emotional health; abuse and violence; body image; and alcohol and drugs.

Keywords: Adolescent pregnancy prevention, Sexuality education

Annotation: The Association for Recognizing the Life of Stillborns (ARLS) offers Certificates of Life (for a fee) to parents who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death. The certificate serves as a substitute for a legal birth certificate and attests to the fact that the baby was once alive.

Keywords: Fetal death, Grief, Perinatal bereavement, Perinatal mortality, Pregnancy loss, Spontaneous abortion

Annotation: The Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators (ALACE) is a professional organization offering services to help childbirth educators and labor assistants and birth doulas provide pregnant women with information and practical alternatives so that they may give birth with confidence, strength, and joy. The association provides training and certification, publishes a quarterly journal, and posts links to related internet sources. The Web site also provides access to the ALACE online bookstore and a directory of labor assistants and childbirth educators.

Keywords: Childbirth, Alternative birth styles, Certification, Childbirth education, Childbirth educators, Labor, Pregnancy, Professional education, Professional training, Publications

Annotation: The mission of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) is to promote excellence in women's health care education and provide an exchange of information on programs of study, teaching methods and research activities among gynecologic and obstetric programs. The APGO Women's Healthcare Education Office (WHEO) is invloved in activities to strengthen undergraduate women's health education for all medical students, including a women's health care competencies project. APGO provides reference information to consumers, publishes a catalog of available publications, and sponsors conferences and training seminars.

Keywords: Gynecology, Obstetrics, Pregnancy, Prenatal care, Reproductive health

Annotation: The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP) educates health professionals across disciplines and specialties. ARHP produces accredited programs for health professionals across a range of reproductive health topics. The website provides information on policy and advocacy, publications and resources, news, and other services.

Keywords: Adolescent pregnancy, Adolescents, Prevention, Reproductive health, Sexually transmitted diseases, Spanish language materials

Annotation: Baby Blossoms Collaborative (BBC)works to eliminate factors that contribute to health disparities through efforts to strengthen the community capacity by identifying the contributing factors that lead to racial, geographic, and economic disparities contributing to poor reproductive outcomes and poor infant health; reducing overall feto-infant mortality; and builds on the strengths of the community. The BBC is comprised of 35+ maternal child health partner agencies and small businesses in Douglas County, Nebraska, and provides resources on safe sleep for infants, perinatal periods of risk, Fetal and Infant Mortality Review cycle of improvement, bereavement, and preconception health.

Keywords: Child health, Collaboration, Community coordination, Community programs, Infant health, Nebraska, Pregnancy outcome, Reproductive health

Annotation: Birthing the Future is a nonprofit organization that gathers, synthesizes, and disseminates wisdom about birthing and the care of mothers and babies from pre-conception to the first birthday. Birthing the Future blends ancient feminine wisdom with scientific and clinical knowledge about the mother and baby within the context of their family, community, and society. The organization conducts workshops, hosts symposiums, develops multi-media materials, and maintains an online bookstore. The Web site provides links to related organizations and resources.

Keywords: Alternative birth styles, Childbirth, Childbirth education, Family centered care, Infant care, Labor, Midwifery, Postpartum care, Preconception care, Pregnancy, Prenatal care

Annotation: The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative is devoted to eliminating preventable maternal death and injury and promoting equitable maternity care in California by bringing resources, tools, measures, and quality improvement techniques to providers, administrators, and public health leaders. The web site offers current information about California maternal outcomes, specific projects that are in process, annotated bibliographies of important topics, resources developed or have received from other organizations, key links, and specific information to assist in performing quality improvement for maternity topics. The site also serves as a communications tool for the many CMQCC committees that are working on state-wide projects.

Keywords: Research, California, Health services delivery, Maternal health, Pregnancy, Pregnant women, Quality assurance, State initiatives

Annotation: The Center for Loss in Multiple Birth (CLIMB, Inc.) is an organization of parents who have experienced the death of one or both twins (or higher multiple births) during pregnancy, birth, infancy, or childhood. The Center provides services to individuals in the U.S., Canada, and abroad which include referrals; a quarterly newsletter; an online discussion forum; a parent contact list; samples of birth/memorial announcements; a library; publications; and assistance to twins clubs, loss groups, authors, and researchers. Some materials are available in French, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian. Training seminars are sponsored upon request.

Keywords: Fetal death, Grief, Multiple births, Perinatal bereavement, Perinatal mortality, Pregnancy loss, Spontaneous abortion

Annotation: The Centering Corporation provides grief literature, videotapes, workshops and referrals. The Centering Corporation offers literature through their publications catalog on a number of topics including premature infants, adoption, miscarriage, newborn and child death, and death of a parent. Some materials are available in Spanish. The organization also sponsors workshops and conferences, publishes a magazine, Grief Digest, and provides materials for children.

Keywords: Bereavement, Fetal death, Grief, Perinatal bereavement, Pregnancy loss, Premature infants, Spontaneous abortion