Improving Birth and Maternal Outcomes
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Improving Birth and Maternal Outcomes in Southeastern Baltimore County
Infants born to mothers in southeastern Baltimore County face substantially greater health risks than infants born in Baltimore County as a whole. In fact, while Baltimore County’s overall infant mortality rates have declined since 2001, the southeast area’s infant mortality rate has steadily increased, suggesting that, without intervention, this disparity will continue.
With a $252,000 grant from CareFirst, Franklin Square Hospital Center’s Improve Birth and Maternal Outcomes initiative seeks to reverse this trend. The hospital center is establishing community partnerships to provide programs that support breastfeeding, safe sleep practices and minimize post-natal depression. The program will provide:
- Breast Feeding Education to increase the number of babies who are being breastfed at discharge and at six months of birth. A certified lactation consultant will provide individualized consultation/instructions, classes and workshops.
- Safe Sleep Education to reduce the infant mortality rate and reduce the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), suffocation and roll-overs caused by co-sleeping.
- Screenings to identify and treat Perinatal Depression.
Through outreach, as well as individual and intensive education and support services, the Improve Birth and Maternity Outcomes initiative strives to improve health outcomes for 2,600 mothers, infants and children annually.