We Are MCH (Mini 1)

What’s

in a

name?

*You can set me to autoplay at 10 or 20 seconds* OR just click through at your leisure

MCH is short for “Maternal and Child Health”

Of course, if you think that MCH concerns itself with the health of mothers and babies, you’d be right.

But it’s not just moms.

Or babies.

We are concerned with lots of issues and many kinds of people, like...

Maternal and Child Health

You might be surprised to learn that the field of MCH covers a wide array of topics--mothers and babies, yes--but also fathers, children, adolescents, women (whether they are mothers or not).

As a field, we are interested in the whole life span, not just particular times of life.

Check out this small sample of some of the themes in MCH work and research...

We in MCH would like to share our stories with you. Please click through to learn more about what MCH is doing in communities just like yours!

Whew! You just clicked through the stories of 11 amazing people working in MCH!!

Thanks for sticking with us and learning more about what we are doing in communities near you!

We are MCH...are you? Join us, share your work and your stories!

On Twitter Use hashtag #WeAreMCH

Find us on Youtube! http://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreMCH

A BIG thank you to everyone who submitted stories from these Schools of Public Health:

Boston University

Harvard University

Johns Hopkins University

Tulane University

University of Alabama at Birmingham

University of Arizona

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Los Angeles

University of Illinois, Chicago

University of Minnesota

University of North Carolina

University of South Florida

University of Washington

We thank them, not only for their tireless work in the field of Maternal and Child Health, but also for sharing their stories and helping spread the word about MCH.

MCH training grants at each of the universities listed are funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Produced by the University of South Florida

MCH Public Health training program entitled

“Promoting Health Equity through MCH Leadership Training”

Charlotte Noble, Dr. Martha Coulter, and Dr. Ellen Daley

This is the mini-version #1 of our full “We Are MCH” Prezi, which can be found here:

http://prezi.com/rz0qkn_wwzvp/we-are-mch/

You can also access the “We Are MCH” Mini #2 here:

http://prezi.com/wc9jvevjv3nz/we-are-mch-mini-2/

and the “We Are MCH” Mini #3 here:

http://prezi.com/kyjdfgl9b17o/we-are-mch-mini-3/

better

need

healthcare

I am David, and I am a pediatric dentist. My training in Maternal and Child Health helps me and other dentists improve the way we talk with parents to make sure they understand how to keep their children free from cavities.

My name is Martha and I do research to help domestic violence victims and their children. I study the issues they face when they leave a violent situation in order to make sure they have the supports they need, so they are not forced to go back.

Source: Microsoft

Activities

adolescents

support

I’m Monica, and I work to better understand the effect of bullying on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender teens. I also look at the ways families, schools, and communities can better support their development and mental health. Efforts to improve health and social support during adolescence can create better opportunities for health throughout life.

create

services

My name is Christine, and I work to encourage men to be more involved in their children’s health. As part of our goal to put fathers back in the picture, we held a health fair targeting African-American men. We also hope to improve father’s health by encouraging activities they can do with their children, like Zumba— a fun, Latin dance-based type of exercise.

Source: Microsoft

reduce

fathers

prevention

I’m Sarah, and I’m headed to Zimbabwe as a missionary. I’ll be working on programs focused on HIV/AIDS prevention, management of the disease as well as preventing transmission from mother to child.

My name is Kate, and I currently work on a project that addresses health and opportunity for low-income, rural women in North Carolina. We seek to empower women through peer support, where women share information and learn about health and wealth topics like healthy eating and balancing a budget. I use my training in Maternal and Child Health and Social Work to help women achieve greater equality of opportunity.

I am Francisco, and I work with border and native communities to prevent cervical cancer.

mothers

low-income

hope

My name is Gene, and I research trends in birth practices in the U.S. and around the world. To do this, I look at multiple data sources, especially surveys of new mothers, so we can understand the full picture of how women experience childbirth. Our goal is to help medical professionals and policy-makers develop ways to improve the health of mothers and babies.

Adorable grandson

information

doctors

help

My name is Lauren, and I worked with students from underprivileged communities in Bangladesh to grow their academic and leadership skills. Our goals were to build understanding between cultures and long-lasting economic growth and human development in Asia. As a student of maternal and child health, I hope to better understand how education creates social and political equality for women.

Source: Parwana Fayyaz

I’m Emily, and I am a nurse practitioner and a teacher of Maternal and Child Health. At Dorchester House, a community health center, we work to improve how we identify children who are not developing as we would expect. We’ve implemented developmental screening for all children during their routine well-child check-ups. I hope that our work will help children and families get the extra help they need as early as possible.

Credit: Dorchester House

My name is Theresa, and I design programs to bring war-affected youth back into their families and communities in Africa. These youth have experienced horrific abuse themselves, but are often outcast from their communities because of the crimes that they have been forced to commit. Reintegrating them requires careful emotional support, as well as educational support for lost schooling.

Source: Flickr/endrevestvik

My name is Lianne, and I work with parents in the child welfare system who have been accused of abusing their children. To improve the health of children, I explore the experiences of these parents and their needs for services. My work helps to provide information to agencies so that they can better help these parents provide healthy and safe lives for their children.

neighborhoods

childbirth

I’m Jenna, and I work with young children living in cities. I study how neighborhoods where children live affect the physical development of their brains and bodies. By finding new ways to support communities and families I hope to promote children’s healthy development and help lay the foundation for life-long health and success.

development

students

youth

Image licensed by Ingram Publishing

emotional

nutritious

My name is Jeremiah and I’m working on a project to reduce heart disease by promoting healthful food choices in East Los Angeles. I’m helping corner stores to market and provide healthier foods, and serve as sites to train community members in how to prepare more nutritious meals.

heart

My name is Katelyn, and I help pediatricians improve child health and reduce the cost of health care. I find patterns in health care services, so that doctors can better coordinate care for children with chronic diseases and health for all. If the doctors make these changes, care will be more affordable for families.

vulnerable

My name is Annie-Laurie, and I study the services and supports that adolescents need to live healthy lives. I work with teens, parents, and health care providers to improve vaccination rates and enhance preventive health care. I am also examining new approaches to reducing sexual risk behaviors among vulnerable adolescents.

program

children

teens

housing

Low-income children and youth with serious emotional disturbances are allowed to seek mental health treatment through the public insurance program, Medicaid. My name is Wendy, and my research found that where children and youth live determines whether or not they actually receive needed mental health services. These policies must be changed so that all children have equal access to the services they require.

Source: iStockphoto

people

babies

Source: Microsoft

health

Mental Health

I am Sarah, and I work in a Early Hearing Detection and Intervention program. We screen babies for hearing loss; if there are hearing issues, we connect families to educational and financial resources. Our mission is to ensure that children with hearing loss reach their full potential.

My name is Cara and I study women’s childbirth experiences and their postpartum mental health.  If mothers have postpartum depression or other mental health problems, it affects themselves, their babies and their families.  I hope to find ways to prevent mental health problems from occurring in the first place.

future

access

local

team

schools

My name is Arden, and I led the National Children’s Study Community Engagement team in Cook County, IL. The project follows pregnant women, their children and their families from before birth until age 21 to help determine how family history and physical and social environments influence their health. This research has the potential to improve the health and well-being of children for generations to come.

Source: iStockphoto/Microsoft

I’m Kendra, and I work to improve the health and well-being of employees, students, and families at public schools in New Orleans. I connect students and families to health care and educate them about health and preventing diseases. When children are healthy, they are better learners and can better contribute to our community.

healthy environments

Hi, I’m Robyn, and I’m on a team that evaluates a pilot program providing health education to female inmates. This program connects recently released women to health care services at their county health clinics. They hope to increase awareness of women’s health and access to services for this vulnerable population.

experience

I am Annie and I work to develop nature-based play spaces for kids in Northwest Minnesota. The best way to improve environments for children is to collaborate with parents and community members. We hope that our work increases access and ownership of natural spaces so children and their families have safe and affordable places for physical activity.

Source: Microsoft

provide

Acknowledgments

We like to thank the following individuals and organizations

for their contributions to the We Are MCH project:

choices

teens

Want to learn more? Please keep clicking!!

accessible

healthy

We Are MCH

Individuals

teaching

We are Maternal and Child Health...Are you? Need an opening volley here! What are we doing? Why should you care?

healthier

future

research

My name is Deana, and I am a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. My research looks at how a woman’s mood and experiences during pregnancy impact the health of her baby. I hope to create culturally relevant programs for pregnant women and provide a healthier start for future generations of American Indian children.

pregnant women

My name is Jennifer, and my team looks at characteristics such as maternal age, hospitalizations during pregnancy and previous preterm births of women who have low birth weight babies. Looking at these characteristics will help us develop a set of recommendations to reduce low birth weight outcomes, improve maternal and child health, and build relationships with community based organizations.

parents

goal

men

child health

affordable

My name is Anne, and I am part of a team evaluating a program in Alabama that helps women with limited resources access affordable birth control. The goal is to ensure that every woman in the state is able to access the care and services they need to be healthy.

problems

childhood

I’m Carolyn and my team and I use Internet outreach to help young African-American women avoid becoming mothers before they’re ready. We teach these 18- to 19-year-olds about abstinence, contraceptive use, empowerment, recognizing abuse and other personal behaviors. Reaching young people online is a way to give them tools to delay pregnancy and improve their future and those of their children.

women

Public Health

serve

encourage

community

pregnancy

meals

best

clinic

We are Nicky and Sam, and we are service-learning, a strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction.

My name is Sarah, and I work with You Quit, Two Quit, a project that encourages women of childbearing age to quit smoking. We offer healthcare providers the training, information and resources they need to support their patients in quitting tobacco. Staying smoke free is an essential part of good maternal, child, and community health.

Source: Microsoft

Shearing Sheep the Navaho Way

I’m Portia, and my research focuses on FriarFit, a partnership between the San Diego Padres sports team and local public health partners to address childhood obesity. FriarFit promotes healthy lifestyles in the ballpark and nearby community. The results of this work show that joint efforts to improve population health can be beneficial for all partners involved.

wheel chair accessible

helpful

population health

food

school health

education

work

study

military

improve

My name is Amy, and I’m a Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist. My research has found that a having a spouse deployed in the military during a women’s pregnancy can affect the baby’s development. It is critical to understand how to best support military families during deployment and ensure their long term health.

seek

lives

I’m Byron, and I think we need healthy men to be able to have healthy children, families and communities in America. To help with this, I mentor young men and encourage them to do well in school and be responsible for their future.

postpartum

young men

sleep

My name is Nancy, and I focus on what I have seen as a major public health issue for youth, namely the lack of adequate sleep. My work has shown lack of sleep to be associated with aggression and obesity. Some suggested interventions include promoting better sleep habits, and examining the role of the start of school days.

young

training

project

aging

empower

life

My name is Becky and I promote healthy eating and physical activity in South Boston. We engaged people who care about youth to find out what keeps people from staying healthy, then created interactive teaching materials and a local resource guide for families, schools and the community health center. Our next step is to empower teens to work with community leaders to change the foods that are available and affordable in their neighborhood.

Source: Microsoft

breastfeeding

understanding

I am Mary, and I work to  encourage breastfeeding on many levels—with mothers, individually, to help them breastfeed; with businesses, to help them accommodate breastfeeding mothers; and with health care professionals, who educate women about breastfeeding. Breastfeeding not only provides a healthy start for mom and baby, it reduces healthcare costs.

educational

Individuals

Families

Communities

You might be asking yourself:

What is MCH?

Are

We

MCH