Major Accomplishments

The Center for Maternal and Child Health’s Accomplishments Include:

Support for a statewide Maternal and Child Health Hotline (1-800-456-8900) administered by the Maryland Medicaid Program that refers women to prenatal care services statewide.

Establishment of Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) teams in every jurisdiction to conduct in-depth case reviews to look for methods of decreasing future infant deaths, and to identify systems changes that if implemented could prevent future deaths. Through partnerships with professional and community organizations, the FIMR process includes review of medical records, interviews of mothers, analysis of findings, and facilitation of system changes.

Support for PRAMS, a population-based risk factor surveillance system designed to identify and monitor selected maternal behaviors that occur before and during pregnancy, to identify problems incurred during pregnancy, and develop strategies to address them.

Convening the Maryland Perinatal Clinical Advisory Committee, a multidisciplinary committee representing 19 Maryland professional organizations, to review and periodically update Maryland Perinatal System Standards, which serve as a set of voluntary standards for Maryland hospitals that provide obstetrical and neonatal services.��

Administers the Maryland Family Planning and Reproductive Health Program. Family planning is a leading strategy in reducing low birth weight births and related fetal and infant mortality through improved wellness of women prior to pregnancy.  The Program offers comprehensive family planning, preconception health, teen pregnancy prevention, colposcopy, and preventive services to more than 79,000 clients annually at more than 80 sites statewide. Services include preconception health counseling; health education; screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections; breast and cervical cancer screening; contraceptive services; and referrals for primary health, mental health, and social services.

To support local obstetricians, the Babies Born Healthy Initiative is partnering with the University of Maryland, Department of OB/GYN to support the Maryland Advanced Perinatal Support System. The expansion of this successful pilot program, which uses telemedicine to provide high- risk obstetric care to women in rural areas of the State, supports obstetricians willing to accept high-risk patients, allowing patients to receive medical services in their communities.

Provides leadership and staffing for the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Coalition convened by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) in July 2004 to develop public health recommendations for addressing FASD in Maryland. The recommendations, issued by the workgroup in a final report, released in October 2005, include establishing a broader statewide coalition, identifying a State FASD coordinator at DHMH, and seeking public and private resources to conduct a public awareness campaign. Grand rounds also have been conducted to increase awareness of the importance of screening and referring for drug abuse and treatment.

Establishment of the Maternal Mortality Review Program.  The Center for Maternal and Child Health, in cooperation with the Vital Statistics Administration and MedChi, the State’s medical society, annually performs a review of maternal deaths in Maryland through Maternal Mortality Review. This legislatively mandated review process has led to enhanced surveillance of pregnancy associated deaths in Maryland, the addition of pregnancy status on the death certificate, and the development of educational materials for patients and providers.

Launched the Breastfeeding Friendly Work Place Initiative in collaboration with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development to promote employers that make breastfeeding accessible for mothers returning to work.

Establishment and support of the Center for Excellence with the University of Maryland to train pediatricians and develop a resource center for pediatricians to assist in the identification of children who have been neglected or abused.

Administers the Maryland Asthma Control Program which seeks to decrease the prevalence of asthma and the occurrence of its complications in Maryland, and to decrease disparity in health outcomes related to asthma in all parts of the State.

Administers the Maryland Childhood Lead Screening Program in collaboration with the Maryland Department of the Environment and others, to reduce lead exposure in children under the age of six by promoting lead testing and raising lead awareness in communities.

Administers the Healthy Teens and Young Adults Program, which addresses the reproductive and life skills needs of high- risk adolescents, provides prevention services to 7,000 high-risk young men and women. The Program extends special services to teens and young adults who face social, cultural, institutional, and financial barriers to care. Those services include educational support, community awareness, clinical services, teen advisory groups, and parental involvement for male and female participants.

Revised 1/2009