Improving infant safe sleep and breastfeeding requires a national commitment from individuals across systems and sectors: public health, hospitals, daycare and early education, home visiting, and advocacy organizations, to name just a few. By bringing together cross-sector partners focused on the common goal of supporting safe sleep and breastfeeding, initiatives can develop comprehensive strategies—strategies that…
Full name and title: Sandra Widland, MPH, Associate Project Director Years with NICHQ: 2.5 years How has your background/experiences led you to join a national children’s health organization? My initial passion for public health sprung from my love for sports. I played tennis in college and spent most of my free time being outside and…
Developmental screenings identify children at risk of having or developing developmental delays, with the goal of improving outcomes through early intervention and referral to supportive services. An effective developmental screening process includes conducting screenings from trained care providers; ensuring that families are referred to supportive services and interventions, such as evidence-based home visiting; maintaining a process for…
In 2016, Tabitha Williams sat in her hospital’s intensive care unit with her unresponsive 5-year old daughter; she had suffered a severe asthma attack brought on by exposure to lead dust in their home. Williams and her daughter live in Grand Rapids, Michigan; it’s just under a two hour drive west of Flint, Michigan, where…
Since 2007, the Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative (OPQC)—a statewide consortium of perinatal clinicians, hospitals, policy makers and governmental entities—has leveraged quality improvement (QI) science to significantly improve birth outcomes for moms and babies across Ohio. Their achievements include reducing early elective deliveries by 75 percent across the state and a statewide progesterone program that reduced…
Understanding what causes fetal, infant, and child deaths gives states and communities the information they need to identify focused, effective solutions. This makes infant mortality data—data that reveals the causes and contributors to death and system barriers—irreplaceable assets for any infant health improvement effort. And that makes the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention…
When parents bring their child to a clinician, what is the foundation of what goes on in that visit? Trust between parents and pediatrics is essential for optimizing children’s health outcomes. When parents trust their child’s pediatric provider, they come together as an effective team working to ensure the child’s health and well-being. “What it…
In the U.S., Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), suffocation and other sleep-related causes claim approximately 3,600 babies every year. That number translates to nearly 165 unfilled kindergarten classrooms. And while research shows that many of these deaths are preventable, they still persist. Doing better by American families starts by identifying what’s working and outlining opportunities…
We can’t improve maternal and child health without engaging community voices—without practicing what NICHQ Executive Project Director Kenn Harris calls “true, authentic community engagement.” This holds whether seeking change at the policy level or within an organization, hospital or clinic. “The belief behind community engagement is that the people impacted by the problem have some…
Black babies born in the state with the lowest black infant mortality rate—those with the best chance at reaching their first birthday—die at a higher rate than white babies born in the state with the highest infant mortality rate, according to a 2018 report on infant mortality from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention….