Important of Maternal and Child Healthcare

The wellbeing of mothers and their children determines the next generation of health and can also help predict health challenges for families, their medical care team, and communities in the future. In addition, healthy outcomes and early diagnosis and treatment of health conditions among children and women can help prevent disability and death hence helping children to reach their full potential.
Even after major healthcare advances and critical threats to infants, maternal and child health still exists in the U.S and other parts of the world. 


One of the world’s major challenges is reducing the rate of ante-natal and preterm births that rose by more than 20 percent from 1990 to 2006. Another major challenge is taking care of the birth ratio by reducing the infant death rate, which has remained high since 2011.

Impacts of maternal and children health
According to statistics, more that 80 percent of U.S women will become pregnant and give birth to one or more children. 31 percent of these women experience pregnancy complications such as depression and cesarean delivery. Some of these complications are associated with obesity during pregnancy. Every year 12 percent of children are born preterm and 8.2 percent are born with extremely low birth weight. 

These factors increase the risk of death in infants or lead to lifelong disabilities such as hearing and visual impairments. Inter-conception and preconception are services that can help identify any existing health risks to help prevent future health complications for children and women. Such problems include genetic conditions, heart disease, sexually transmitted disease, unhealthy weight, and diabetes.

Addressing Maternal and Child Healthcare

Prenatal and infants healthcare

Long and short-term health risks continue to be there for mothers and children before, during, and after birth. There have been efforts aimed to promote strategies and provide essential services and programs to increase the quality of care for children and their mothers.

According to statistics, 100% (about 4 million) of babies in the U.S are screened for health risks after birth or even before birth.
Source


Some of the goals put forward to increase the health of children include:
  •         Ensuring that higher-risk mothers and infants delivered in hospitals have better care. For example, infants with extreme low birth weight are the most fragile children who require a hospital with neonatal Intensive Care Unit to increase their chances of survival.         
  •       Increasing the number of children who are breastfed and those who are breastfed fully through the first 6 months. American Association of Pediatrics (APP) recommends mother’s milk as it supports infants optimal growth and development. Mother’s milk also benefits the infants by reducing their risks of developing health risks such as cancer.
  •          Increase the number of children sleeping on their backs. Back-sleep position is recommended on a smooth surface with no loose bedding.
  •           Developmental screening increase among infants. Early identification for developmental disorders is very important to the wellbeing of the mother and her children.
  •           Increase the number of infants who are fully insured. Failing to insure adequately puts them at a risk of lacking appropriate and timely care. Children who are inadequately insured are less likely to receive family-centered care and needed hospital referrals.

Some of the initiatives and programs put forward to accomplish the above listed goals include:

  1.         Title V MCH block Grant- This is one of the largest funded programs that aims to provide:

·         Access to proper pre-natal and post-natal healthcare for mothers especially those with high risk of health complications and low income.
·         Increased health diagnostics and follow-up diagnostics and treatment
·         Toll-free assistant services for mothers with children who are eligible for Medicaid.
  • 2   Healthy start- These are strategies aimed to reduce preterm birth, birth defects, sudden infant death syndrome, low birth weight, unintentional injuries, and maternal complications. The program is aimed to address economic and social factors that have been seen to have negative impact on child health and growth.
  • 3.       Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Healthcare- This is a group of organizations that have partnered to reduce critical maternal illnesses and deaths.
  • 4.       Bright Futures-This is an initiative that is aimed to improve training, guidance and research about children health. It provides preventive screenings and up-to-date information services for mothers and their children
  • 5.       Home visiting- This is a partnership of ACF, tribal entities, states and territories aimed to provide support for pregnant women and their families. Home visiting gives advice, guidance and resources to at-risk patients of children from their birth to school time. Home visiting helps mothers gain skills they need to raise children who are social, physical and emotionally healthy and ready for school.
  • 6.       SISSI- This is a program which has been brought forward to address sleep-related infant deaths which is the leading cause of death after the first month of life.
  • 7.       Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network- This is partnership of all U.S states that provides services aimed to reduce infant molarity and improve birth ratio. This program offers screening for:


a.       Heritable disorders- All work is done to help reduce illnesses and deaths in newborns who are at risk of getting heritable disorders such as hearing impairment, sickle cell anemia, and cystic fibrosis
b.      Newborn screening- This program is aimed to offer genetic and screening programs that are aimed to reduce infant death rate from serious health conditions.
c.       Universal newborn hearing screening- This is a hearing test for infants aimed to reduce the number of children and infants with hearing problems.
source


Maternal or Women’s Healthcare
According to statistics, support programs have been put in place for all 50 states in the U.S to help improve women’s health before, during and after pregnancy. Some goals aimed to improve maternal health include:
  •         Promoting the safety and quality of maternal care
  •         Improving maternal health before during, after pregnancy and during the life course.
  •         Improving maternal care systems such as public and clinical health systems.

Some of the programs and initiatives used to accomplish the above goals include:
  •      Maternal preventive services- This is an initiative to help identify screening and preventive services that can be used to improve the health of women across their lifespan.
  •       Alliance for innovation in maternal health
  •       Title V maternal care health block grant
  •        Healthy start

Location: New York, NY, USA

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