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Learn how Virtua Health empowered OB-GYN physicians and nurses to integrate protocols that lowered C-section, hypertension and hemorrhage rates for patients in labor in this AHA Members in Action case study and podcast. 

The AHA has joined the Children’s Hospital Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as a partner in Sound the Alarm for Kids, an initiative urging Congress to enact legislation and increase funding to better support mental health for children and teens. 

A replay is now available of the Nov. 8 AHA/American Academy of Pediatrics/Children’s Hospital Association webinar on vaccinating pediatric patients against COVID-19. The webinar offers insights, resources and lessons learned to assist pediatricians and hospitals in working with parents and communities to build trust in the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine for children.

Over a two-year period, health care organizations and their community partners in four cities — Atlanta, New Orleans, Detroit and Washington, D.C. — tested and scaled locally driven initiatives to improve Black maternal health equity.

In this Members in Action podcast, Northwell Health’s Viktor Klein, M.D., system director of quality and patient safety for OB/GYN, and Adriann Combs, clinical director of OB/GYN services, share how launching the Maternal Outcomes and Morbidity Collaborative (MOMS) has increased awareness of maternal health complexities, and reduced disparities in maternal care.

The National Institutes of Health will support a four-year study on the potential long-term effects of COVID-19 on women infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., accepted the recommendation of her agency’s independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to administer Pfizer’s pediatric COVID-19 vaccine to children between the ages of five and 11.

As recommended by its advisory committee on preventing lead exposure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reduced the blood lead reference value for children from 5 micrograms per deciliter to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter to reflect declining blood lead levels in U.S. children aged 1-5.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced the HHS Racial Equity in Postpartum Care Challenge, a competition dedicated to upgrading postpartum care for Black and Native women enrolled in the Medicaid or CHIP programs.

Depression during pregnancy and postpartum depression are among the most common complications of pregnancy, even higher than hypertension and diabetes, said Alpa Shah, M.D., director of the Perinatal Mental Health Clinic at Marshfield Clinic Health System.

El Camino Health in Mountain View, Calif., will host a free virtual symposium Oct. 7 on maternal mental health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged clinicians to educate pregnant patients about the benefits and safety of COVID-19 vaccination; and encourage and offer vaccination to patients who are pregnant, recently pregnant or might become pregnant to increase vaccination rates in this population.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $342 million to expand home visiting services to pregnant women and parents with young children in U.S. states and territories.

The House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees approved their legislative recommendations for the Build Back Better Act, which will be considered under budget reconciliation.

Postpartum hemorrhages occur in 1%-5% of women who have a baby.

The National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health is accepting comments through Sept. 15 to assist with identifying research gaps and pitfalls in clinical practice related to women’s health issues.

In this Members in Action podcast, Aisha Syeda, program manager at the AHA, speaks with Nicole Lamborne, M.D., vice president of clinical operations for women’s services at Virtua Health in southern New Jersey, who shares how the health system identified gaps in maternal care and invested in laborists, nurses and evidence-based practices to lower C-section, hypertension, hemorrhage and sepsis rates.

Racial and ethnic disparities in U.S. maternal mortality may be larger than previously reported, according to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health.

The miscarriage rate for nearly 2,500 women who received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines before or during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy was about 13%, similar to the 11%-16% expected miscarriage rate in the general population, according to an analysis of data from the v-safe pregnancy registry released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

St. Peter’s Health in Helena, Mont., partnered with Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies—the Montana Coalition to connect patients experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and their families, with community resources to support their needs.