Maternal and Child Health Library
This and past issues of the MCH Alert are available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/alert/archives.html.
October 13, 2006
1. Library Creates Portal to Maternal and Child Health
History Materials
2. Parent Booklet Provides Information About Non-Maternal
Child Care and Its Links to Children's Development
3. Report Discusses Progress Toward Achieving Maternal
and Infant Healthy People 2010 Objectives
4. Article Assesses the Contribution of Preterm Birth to
Infant Mortality Rates
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Special Notices:
Thanks to all who have completed the 2006 MCH Alert Reader Feedback
Form! If you have not yet responded, please take a few moments to
complete the questions and submit your comments. You will find the form
online at http://www.mchlibrary.info/alert/feedback.html.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. During this month, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is helping to raise
awareness of the serious but preventable problem of intimate partner
violence (IPV). IPV is physical, sexual, or psychological harm caused
by a current or former dating partner or spouse. This violence can
occur among heterosexual or same-sex couples and does not require
sexual intimacy. CDC is encouraging communities to plan activities that
raise awareness of IPV and promote development of healthy
relationships. More information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5539a5.htm?s_cid=mm5539a5_e
and http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/ipvfacts.htm.
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1. LIBRARY CREATES PORTAL TO MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH HISTORY
MATERIALS
The MCH Library recently launched a new portal on its Web site. The
portal, titled Maternal and Child Health History, includes a collection
of historical documents and reports related to maternal and child
health (MCH) and health services for children and families in the
United States. The portal focuses particularly on federal programs,
including activities of the Children's Bureau and MCH services under
Title V of the Social Security Act. Contents include an overview,
materials in the MCH Library, special collections, legislation and
program data, and links. Plans are under way to digitize materials not
currently accessible in electronic format. The portal is available at http://mchlibrary.info/history/index.html.
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2. PARENT BOOKLET PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT NON-MATERNAL CHILD CARE
AND ITS LINKS TO CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENT
The NICHD Study of Early Child Care: Findings for Children Up to Age
4-1/2 Years examines how differences among families, children, and
child care features are linked to children's intellectual, social, and
emotional development and health. The booklet, published by the
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, presents
selected findings from a comprehensive study of children and the many
environments in which they develop. Study findings on child care
quality, quantity, and type, as well as on family features, are
presented. Information about the families and the sites involved in the
study, as well as about the child, family, and home features measured,
are provided. The Positive Caregiving Checklist and references are also
included. The booklet, intended to inform parents' decisions about
child care and to help parents understand their child's development, is
available at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/upload/seccyd_051206.pdf.
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3. REPORT DISCUSSES PROGRESS TOWARD ACHIEVING MATERNAL AND INFANT
HEALTHY PEOPLE 2010 OBJECTIVES
"The 19 states included in this report have made progress in achieving
certain maternal and child health HP [Healthy People] 2010 objectives.
However, increased efforts are needed for states to achieve all eight
HP 2010 objectives examined in this report," state the authors of a
report published in the October 6, 2006, issue of MMWR Surveillance
Summaries. Healthy People 2010 (HP 2010) serves as the national
comprehensive guide for disease prevention and health promotion. The
report provides a snapshot of state progress toward achieving HP 2010
objectives with a focus on perinatal indicators associated with the
following eight objectives: (1) pregnancy intention, (2) multivitamin
use, (3) physical abuse, (4) cigarette smoking during pregnancy, (5)
cigarette smoking cessation, (6) drinking alcohol during pregnancy, (7)
breastfeeding initiation, and (8) infant sleep position.
Data for the analysis were drawn from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment
Monitoring System (PRAMS), an ongoing, state- and population-based
surveillance designed to monitor selected self-reported maternal
behaviors and experiences that occur before, during, and after
pregnancy among women who deliver live-born infants. Results from 19
states that collected data during 2000-2003 and achieved weighted
response rates of greater than or equal to 70% in 1 year were included
in the analysis.
The authors found that
- Preconception period -- No state achieved the HP 2010 objectives
for intended pregnancy, multivitamin use during the month before
pregnancy, and physical abuse during the 12 months before pregnancy.
- Prenatal period -- No state achieved the objective for abstinence
from smoking during pregnancy. However, all states achieved the
objective for smoking cessation during pregnancy, and more than
three-fourths achieved or exceeded the objective for abstinence from
alcohol during pregnancy.
- Postpartum period -- Nearly half of the states achieved the
objective for breastfeeding, and slightly more than one-third achieved
the objective for infant sleep position.
"More progress has been made in the health indicators related to
maternal behaviors during pregnancy . . . and after pregnancy . . .
than for those related to behaviors before pregnancy," state the
authors. They conclude that "continued use of PRAMS data to monitor
these maternal behaviors is important for implementing, evaluating, and
setting priorities for future initiatives at the state level."
Suellentrop K, Morrow B, Williams L, et al. 2006. Monitoring progress
toward achieving maternal and infant Healthy People 2010 objectives --
19 states, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS),
2000-2003. MMWR Surveillance Summaries 55(SS09):1-11. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5509a1.htm?s_cid=ss5509a1_e.
Readers: More information about preconception care is available from
the September 2006 supplement to the Maternal and Child Health Journal.
The supplement, titled Preconception Care: Science, Practice,
Challenges and Opportunities, is available to journal subscribers at http://springerlink.metapress.com/content/1573-6628/.
Information is also available from the MCH Library's knowledge path,
Preconception and Pregnancy, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_pregnancy.html.
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4. ARTICLE ASSESSES THE CONTRIBUTION OF PRETERM BIRTH TO INFANT
MORTALITY RATES
"We found that more infants died because they were born preterm than as
a result of any other cause of death," state the authors of an article
published in the October 2006 issue of Pediatrics. The Healthy People
2010 objectives have identified reduction of the U.S. infant mortality
rate as a national priority; however, there has been minimal progress
in recent years. Traditional National Center for Health Statistics
(NCHS) rules for categorizing and ranking leading causes of death do
not adequately capture the overall contribution of preterm birth (less
than 37 weeks of gestation) to the national infant mortality rate. This
article reports on a new approach that assesses more accurately how
preterm birth contributes to infant mortality rates.
The data used in the analyses were taken from the death certificates
for all infants (less than 365 days of age) who died during 2002 and
from the birth certificates of those infants, regardless of whether
they were born in 2001 or 2002. For the 2002 linked file, 99% of infant
death records were linked to the corresponding birth certificates. All
analyses were weighted to account for the small fraction of unlinked
records. The authors identified the top 20 leading causes of death in
the linked file. The role of preterm birth for each cause was assessed
by determining the proportion of infants who were born preterm for each
cause of death and by considering the connection between preterm birth
and the specific cause of death.
The authors found that
- There were 27,970 infant deaths in 2002, and the leading causes
of death accounted for 22,273 of those deaths.
- According to traditional NCHS ranking rules, congenital
malformations accounted for 5,630 (20%) of all infant deaths; short
gestation/low birthweight was the second leading cause of death,
accounting for 4,636 (17%) of all infant deaths.
- Overall, 93% of the 10,372 infants with causes of death the
authors considered attributable to preterm birth were born at less than
37 weeks of gestation; these 9,596 infant deaths were designated as
attributable to preterm birth. The vast majority (95%) of these 9,595
infants were born at less than 32 weeks of gestation and weighed less
than 1,500 g at birth.
- The 9,596 deaths classified as attributable to preterm birth
represented 34% of all infant deaths and 43% of all deaths among the 20
leading causes.
- With the strictest requirements for gestational age at birth
(less than 32 weeks) and birthweight (less than 1,500 g), deaths
classified as attributable to preterm birth represented 33% of all
infant deaths and 41% of all deaths among the 20 leading causes of
death.
The authors conclude that "there is an urgent need for an expanded
comprehensive agenda to understand the complex social and biological
factors that determine susceptibility to preterm birth, to detect women
at risk early in pregnancy, and to develop and to evaluate new methods
for preventing this important cause of death."
Callaghan WM, et al. 2006. The contribution of preterm birth to infant
mortality rates in the United States. Pediatrics 118(4):1566-1573.
Abstract available at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/118/4/1566?rss=1.
Readers: More information is available from the MCH Library's knowledge
path, Infant Mortality, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_infmort.html;
from the bibliographies, Infant Mortality, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/action.lasso?-database=Biblio&-layout=Web&-response=/databases/BibLists/bib_infmortality.html&-MaxRecords=all&-DoScript=auto_search_infmortality&-search
and Prematurity, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/action.lasso?-database=Biblio&-layout=Web&-response=/databases/BibLists/bib_premature.html&-MaxRecords=all&-DoScript=auto_search_premature&-search;
and from the organizations resource list, Infant Mortality Prevention,
at http://www.mchlibrary.info/action.lasso?-database=Organizations&-layout=Web&-response=/databases/OrgLists/orgs_infmort.html&-MaxRecords=all&-DoScript=auto_search_infmort&-search.
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MCH Alert © 1998-2006 by National Center for Education in Maternal
and
Child Health and Georgetown University. MCH Alert is produced by
Maternal and Child Health Library at the National Center for Education
in Maternal and Child Health under its cooperative agreement
(U02MC00001) with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health
Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and
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MANAGING EDITOR: Jolene Bertness
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COPYEDITOR/WRITER: Ruth Barzel
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MCH Alert
Maternal and Child Health Library
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