In this issue of Preemie Matters: Study: Latino Prematurity Risk Increases with Time Spent in United States • HHS Announces "Strong Start" • Webinar Available Online: Pediatrix BabySteps Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW) & Implications for the Future of Neonatal Care • Partner Profile: Caiden's Hope • Research Finds Severe Morning Sickness Linked to Preterm Birth
Study: Latino Prematurity Risk Increases with Time Spent in United States
Research recently presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine finds that while new Latino immigrants have a low risk of delivering premature infants, their risk increases the longer they reside in the US and is highest among American-born Latinas. The increased risk was not related to the woman's age, body mass index, marital status, toxic exposures, diet, key health indicators or socioeconomic status - each of which the study adjusted for. One possible explanation cited by some evaluating the findings: the role of extended family and its greater prominence in immigrants' native homes.
HHS Announces "Strong Start"
This month the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a new "Strong Start" initiative aimed at increasing the number of healthy deliveries and reducing preterm births nationwide. HHS will provide more than $40 million in grants to test ways to reverse current trends, as well as a public campaign to reduce early elective deliveries. The initiative involves many agencies within HHS and will include efforts by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Administration on Children and Families. HHS will also work with a number of professional organizations on implementation.
Webinar Available Online: Pediatrix BabySteps Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW) & Implications for the Future of Neonatal Care
Missed our February 15th webinar with Dr. Alan Spitzer? You can still take part in this learning opportunity, via audio and slides now archived online. Dr. Spitzer shared exciting insights from the Pediatrix BabySteps Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW), a novel tool offering a wealth of information about neonatal outcomes and care. This resource represents the practice of newborn medicine ranging from small community intensive care units to some of the largest neonatal intensive care units in the United States, and its value in defining outcome measures, quality improvement projects and research continues to grow annually.
Partner Profile: Caiden's Hope
Caiden's Hope, a nonprofit NICU-family support organization serving Texas and California, is founded on a simple but powerful belief: "Having a child in the NICU is enough stress. Parents shouldn't then have to sleep on the hospital floor." Caiden's Hope alleviates the unexpected financial burdens of travel and hotel stays for families whose infants have necessary, extended, non-elective clinic or hospital stays. The organizational vision came to life after meeting a young NICU couple at the UCLA Medical Center: "Each night they would gather their belongings, leave their baby and move upstairs to an empty waiting room, where they would sleep on the floor in their sleeping bags. Showering in the hospital bathroom the next morning, they would be back downstairs ready to care for their child." See Caiden's Hope families share their stories.
Research Finds Severe Morning Sickness Linked to Preterm Birth
A new study is significant news for the roughly one percent of pregnant women who suffer from extreme morning sickness, known as hyperemesis gravidarum, and the health professionals who care for them. The study, presented earlier this month at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and reported by MSNBC, Fox News and others, found that women with hyperemesis gravidarum were 23% more likely to deliver their babies before 34 weeks. Dr. Gary Stanziano and colleagues from Alere Health, analyzed information from 81,486 women enrolled in an Alere maternity education program who delivered between 2004 and 2011.
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Information is reported as provided and does not necessarily represent the view of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. A complete copy of HMHB's disclaimer is available on our website.