Celebrate NICHQ’s 25th Anniversary! Click here to learn more about our work in MCH improvement
Isabel Zuckoff, MPH, a project director for NICHQ’s National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC) and Maternal Health Action & Resource Center (MHARC), shares her professional inspiration and goals.
A pregnant woman living in poverty faces stress that often has negative consequences for her and her baby’s health, including infant mortality. Many of the social determinants of health affecting pregnant women require legal aid, but healthcare and the law have historically worked separately. The Delaware team participating in the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network…
It has been more than 50 years since the Surgeon General’s report on the adverse health impacts of smoking. However, maternal smoking during pregnancy remains a persistent problem that healthcare and public health professionals have been unable to eliminate. While there are a number of evidence-based smoking cessation interventions (e.g., quit hotlines, diaper incentives) that can…
In the weeks following childbirth, mothers must adapt to plunging hormones, recover from birth and learn how to feed and care for a new infant. Amid these challenges, moms receive minimal support from the healthcare system. Postpartum visits are typically scheduled four to six weeks after birth, leaving moms to cope on their own for…
It is not exactly cold hard cash, but don’t poo poo it. Free diapers are enough of an incentive to encourage pregnant women to quit smoking and stay quit. Free diaper vouchers are a central component of the Baby & Me Tobacco Free program. The national smoking cessation program, which partners with local agencies, works…
For women who smoke, quitting before or during pregnancy is one of the most powerful ways to improve birth outcomes and protect infants’ health. Not only known to damage the baby’s heart, lungs and brain and increase risk of birth defects, smoking during pregnancy is also closely associated with two leading causes of infant mortality: pre-term birth…