|
Preconception Health and Health Care Update
Greetings
This is a monthly communication for individuals interested in improving the health of women and infants through preconception health and health care. We welcome your readership and contributions.
|
|
|
It's National Women's Health Week: Time to Focus on Preconception Health
 This week - May 10 - May 16 - is the
10th annual National Women's Health Week. Coordinated by the Office on Women's Health, US Department of Health
and Human Services
events across the country are intended to empower women to make their health a top priority.
Through this year's theme, "It's Your Time," this initiative encourages
women to take simple steps for a longer, healthier, and happier life.
Promoting women's
health is at the heart of all preconception health activities -- encouraging women to engage in healthy behaviors, to
have a reproductive life plan, to get comprehensive well-woman
check-ups, and/or to seek health care to manage chronic disease. See side
bar on Take the Pledge.
During
National Women's Health Week, communities, businesses, government
agencies, health organizations, women's advocates, and other groups work together to
educate women ways to improve their health.
To learn more, visit the National Women's Health Week website at: http://www.womenshealth.gov/whw/
|
| The Power of Prevention for Women, Children, and Families
The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) released a new report on May 8 entitled The Power of Prevention for Mothers and Children.
The report summarizes the cost effectiveness of several public health
interventions supported by state Maternal and Child Health (MCH)
programs. The report also highlights many interventions that
policymakers should make available to all women and children in health
reform legislation. AMCHP principles focus on:
- Quality affordable health insurance coverage for all Americans.
- A comprehensive insurance benefits package should
include evidence-based services required for all women of reproductive
age, children, adolescents, children with special health care needs,
and their families.
- Because health insurance coverage alone is essential but not sufficient to improve the overall health of populations, adequate
federal support for state and community-wide public health systems and
preventive services must be included in any health reform package.
"As we celebrate this Mother's Day it is sobering to note that
the United States currently ranks 29th in infant mortality rates among
industrialized nations. Reductions in maternal and infant mortality
have stalled in recent years and rates of preterm and low birth weight
births have increased over the last decade. Alarmingly, there are places in this country where the African American
infant mortality rate is double, and in some places even triple, the
rate for whites." The Power of Prevention. AMCHP
|
Links to Ideas and Action that Promote Preconception Health and Health Care
|
|
|
|
|
Featured Article
National Women's Health Week.
Take the Pledge!
The 7th annual National Women's Checkup Day, Monday,
May 11, 2009, is dedicated
to encouraging women to visit health care professionals to receive or
schedule a checkup and promoting regular checkups.
Help women gain access to services
vital to the early
detection and treatment of diabetes, depression,
sexually transmitted infections, hypertension, HIV/AIDS, and other conditions.
Help providers offer women reproductive health and preconception care screening.
Click here to learn more about National Women's Checkup Day.
|
Thinking about health reform?
|
|
