Maternal & Infant Health
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Why is this a priority area? Health begins with a healthy pregnancy (including preconception wellness, getting early prenatal care, managing pregnancy complications) leading to healthy birth outcomes (healthy birth weight, birth at term) and continues with healthy practices such as breastfeeding, immunizations, physical activity, and proper nutrition through infancy and childhood. The Population Health Alliance (PHA) is a community partnership to improve health and well-being in Calhoun County. PHA coordinates Calhoun County's efforts around the Maternal & Infant Health priority area through its group, the Maternal & Infant Health Commission (MIHC). The commission's vision is that all Calhoun County infants will be born healthy and thrive. The group’s mission is to improve birth outcomes and promote infant health through maternal education and support. The MIHC has aligned its goals and strategies with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) 2020-2023 Mother Infant Health & Equity Improvement Plan (MIHEIP) .
Contact Jennifer VanValkenburg at jennifer@bccfoundation.org or 269-962-2181 to learn more.
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Maternal & Infant Health Commission
Workgroups
To further improve maternal and infant health in the community, the Maternal & Infant Health Commission has developed collaborative workgroups focused on specific areas, the Breastfeeding Coalition of Calhoun County , Home Visiting Hub and the Infant Safe Sleep Coalition.
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Infant Safe Sleep Coalition |
Breastfeeding Coalition of Calhoun County |
Home Visiting Hub |
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Vision Statement: Breastfeeding is supported in all environments to promote optimal health and development. Mission: To promote, protect and support breastfeeding for all women in Calhoun County. To learn more about the Breastfeeding Coalition
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Purpose: Implement a Home Visiting Hub in Calhoun County to streamline and coordinate outreach, intake, referral and feedback across home visiting programs, assuring equitable access to the most appropriate services for high risk families. For more information on Calhoun County home visiting programs.
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Goal: Prevention of infant safe sleep deaths through education and provision of a safe sleep environment for families in need. For more information. |
For more information on maternal and infant health resources in Calhoun County, visit Born To Be Healthy
What the data says:
- Mothers aged 40-44 were less likely to receive early prenatal care than any other age group.
- The percentage of babies born with a low birth weight is rising.
- The rate of mothers who smoked during pregnancy is almost 17 times the Healthy People 2020 Target value.
- The infant mortality rate for black infants is substantially higher than for white infants.
Updates
is a strategic initiative in Calhoun County that brings together all health and human service agencies to improve the way care is provided to women of childbearing age, pregnant women, and infants. For more information and resources, visit www.borntobehealthy.org.
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Infant Safe Sleep in Michigan: A Comprehensive Look at Sleep-Related Deaths, 2018
In 2012, the State of Michigan released its first Infant Mortality Reduction Plan. This plan was in response to persistently high infant mortality rates and significant disparities in birth outcomes. Reducing sleep-related infant deaths is one of the nine goals in this plan. Together with our partners, we developed an Infant Safe Sleep Strategic Plan to achieve this goal through various outreach and educational objectives. This report seeks to paint a comprehensive picture of the sleep-related infant deaths in Michigan by combining data, research, information regarding local and statewide initiatives, and opportunities for moving forward that are making a difference in local communities across our state.
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2016-2019 Infant Mortality Reduction Plan
For every 1,000 Michigan live births, approximately seven infants die before reaching their first birthday. In 2013, five out of every 1,000 Caucasian babies and 10 out of every 1,000 Hispanic babies died before their first birthdays. Among our African American population, that rate is 13 out of every 1,000 babies born died before reaching the age of one.
The strategies in this plan will build on new and existing partnerships, current program efforts, and data and research driven interventions. All strategies will address the social determinants of health and health equity as we build an enhanced network of support systems to ensure that all Michigan infants survive to celebrate their first birthday and continue to thrive.
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Regional Health Alliance Annual Report 2017
Since 2000, Battle Creek and Calhoun County have had an organized, collaborative, community-wide effort to achieve this goal. That’s when the Regional Health Alliance (RHA) created its Maternal and Infant Health Commission to focus on reducing infant mortality, or the number of babies born who do not live to their first birthday.
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The Infant Mortality Trend is Declining
For the first time in more than 10 years, the infant mortality trend in Calhoun County is declining. This positive trend is especially good news because infant mortality is an important indicator of the overall health of our community.
This significant improvement is due to a long-term, focused and collaborative effort among many Calhoun County residents and organizations. Successfully reducing infant mortality required a multi-disciplinary focus on numerous factors including access to medical care as well as maternal education and support.
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Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health Key Planning Partners:
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