Audio file
Opioids & Pregnancy
Over the last twenty years the opioid epidemic has exploded across America. From 1999 to 2013, the number of women in the U.S. with an opioid use disorder while giving birth has quadrupled. How we address this crisis affects everyone.
Resources
How States Handle Drug Use During Pregnancy (ProPublica)
When pregnant women who abuse opioids are treated like criminals, their babies suffer (Los Angeles Times)
Criminalizing Pregnancy: Policing Pregnant Women Who Use Drugs in the USA (Amnesty International)
Look Who's Talking
While in the womb, some children hear as much as five hours of language per day, according to a study from the University of Illinois. Yet others will hear far fewer. During pregnancy and during the first five years of life, the brain is developing more rapidly than at any other time. Talking with children, a lot, during that time builds the brain architecture needed later to support communication, reading, and other skills. Listen now for more.
Audio file
Resources
How much speech do unborn children hear? It varies. (Philly Voice)
Talk with your baby (Talk With Your Baby)
Talk with your baby (Talk With Your Baby)
Birth Outcomes & Community Health
In 2017, the U.S. saw an increase in premature births for the third year in a row. Maryland’s preterm birth rates have followed this national trend. What can be done to combat our high infant mortality rate?
Audio file
Resources
Born to Soon (March of Dimes)
Baltimore County program seeks to reverse poor birth outcomes in Cockeysville, Owings Mills (Baltimore Sun)
More babies in Maryland being born prematurely, according to March of Dimes (Baltimore Sun)
Baltimore County program seeks to reverse poor birth outcomes in Cockeysville, Owings Mills (Baltimore Sun)
More babies in Maryland being born prematurely, according to March of Dimes (Baltimore Sun)
Lactating Layovers
Breastfeeding moms know how hard it can be to find a private place to pump, including in busy airports. But the newly passed Friendly Airports for Mothers Act is about to change all that. The law will make it safer, cleaner, and more comfortable for moms, and the concept is long overdue.
Audio file
Resources
Friendly Airports for Mothers Act (U.S. Breastfeeding Committee)
Prenatal Violence
Violence is dangerous wherever it appears, even for babies during the prenatal period. Many children who were in the womb when their mom experienced violent episodes showed negative impacts nearly two years later. Helping to protect mothers also serves to protect children, and to change their outcomes.
Audio file
Resources
Bacteria Babies Need
Pregnant women and new moms should talk to their doctors to make sure their developing and new babies are getting all the germs they need…the helpful ones that is.
Audio file
Resources
The Bacteria Babies Need (New York Times)
Attitude Counts
What will your new baby be like? What fun things will you do together? What do you want to share with him or her? Asking a pregnant mother these questions might help her to be healthier during pregnancy and interact positively with her infant after he or she is born. So say experts at the Centre for Family Research in a recently published study.
Audio file
Resources
Cry Like A Baby
Babies cry….a lot. But did you know they cry in womb too? A mother’s stress just may be affecting how much.
Audio file
Resources
Save Home Visiting
The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) is up for reauthorization in September. Without this crucial evidence-based program, many at-risk pregnant women and parents with young children will not get the services they need to be healthy and productive.
Audio file
Resources
Home Visiting: A Common-Sense Investment (Center for American Progress)
The Bi-Partisan Case for Reauthorizing Home Visiting Program (The Hill )
Home Visiting Program—Maryland (HRSA )
The Bi-Partisan Case for Reauthorizing Home Visiting Program (The Hill )
Home Visiting Program—Maryland (HRSA )