Research and resources for perinatal professionals.
July 31, 2024 | by: Sujata Gami, MSc, LCCE, FACCE
Lamaze Advocacy and Collaboration Committee Chair Sujata Gami, MSc, LCCE, FACCE, shares updates about the committee's activities and dedication to advancing safe and evidence-based birth practices.
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May 25, 2023 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, CD/BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE
Human milk is the ideal food for newborns and infants. Many families face challenges in meeting their bodyfeeding goals. Interventions and events occurring at birth have a significant impact on lactation initiation. Subsequent barriers arise when lactating people return to work, and are separated from their baby for extended lengths of time. In the United States, in order to protect the bodyfeeding relationship, legislation such as the PUMP Act has been enacted and enhanced to support lactating people in the workplace.
November 30, 2022 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, CD/BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE
This month’s Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators is less a structured activity and more of a technique that creates offers many benefits. It provides the educator with opportunities to reinforce best practices, creates community in the class, positions expectant people as the expert in their own care and helps exercise their “self-advocacy muscles” which are critical for a positive birth experience. To find all the Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators activities for free on Connecting the Dots, follow this link.
November 23, 2022 | by: Cara Terreri
November 17 was World Prematurity Day, a time to spread information on how prematurity affects babies, parents, and families, and how it can be prevented. This year, to call attention to this important concern and seize on the recent elections and newly elected lawmakers, perinatal professionals and parents are encouraged to join March of Dimes' "Mamagenda" in support of #BlanketChange, a campaign that urges US lawmakers to pass legislation that improves health care equity and access, and outcomes for parents and babies, including the prevention of prematurity. The current preterm birth rate is 10.5 percent -- the highest ever reported by March of Dimes.
August 24, 2022 | by: Molly Giammarco, MPP
As previously reported in Connecting the Dots, in April 2022, the Biden Administration announced an initiative to create a Birthing-Friendly Hospital designation framework to help improve U.S. maternal health outcomes. Administered by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Biden Administration will provide this designation to help consumers make informed decisions when selecting a hospital for labor and delivery. CMS will make its Birthing-Friendly Hospital designation information publically available on its website, beginning in the fall of 2023.
July 20, 2022 | by: Molly Giammarco, MPP
In June 2022, the Biden Administration issued its Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis to help address maternal mortality and morbidity rates, reduce maternal-health disparities, and improve the overall pregnancy experience for all individuals across the United States. President Biden’s Blueprint iterates the President’s call to policymakers to extend Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum in all states and to adopt funding provisions within the President’s 2023 budget request to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality rates.
December 06, 2021 | by: Molly Giammarco, MPP
This week, President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Moms Who Served Act into law, the first of the 12 Momnibus bills to make it to the President’s desk. The Protecting Moms Who Served Act focuses on maternal health among Veterans by commissioning a study to assess maternal-health risks birthing Veterans face and investing in Veteran Affairs’ maternity-care coordination.
November 04, 2021 | by: Molly Giammarco, MPP
The State of New Jersey and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced New Jersey’s commitment to provide Medicaid coverage one year after a pregnancy to beneficiaries. This coverage will apply to close to 8,700 New Jerseyans and will help address maternal-health disparities that New Jersey—and all states—see among their underserved populations.
October 08, 2021 | by: Molly Giammarco, MPP
Evidence-based childbirth education is a critical part of the prenatal care continuum, but too few are aware of, or have access to, this vital service. Lamaze members took this message to the Hill to educate Congressional staff on childbirth education’s critical role in improved outcomes and to advocate for increased access to their services.
September 21, 2021 | by: Sarah Paksima
"Do I advocate for others because in a moment of vulnerability I was able to ask for what I needed and advocate for myself and I feel compelled by unspoken rules of reciprocity to empower others who are on a similar journey? Do I advocate for improving health care and settings because I had a glimpse of what it was like to face language and cultural barriers to care and want to make sure others have a better experience? Or does my desire to advocate come from someplace darker, a misplaced sense of self-righteous moral obligation? So, is this experience really why I advocate? Maybe. I don’t know if anyone can ever point to a single reason for why we do what we do. Perhaps there isn’t an experience or an external reason at all." - Sarah Paksima
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