Health News
A Kentucky neonatalogist was honored this week for giving the state "a role in catalyzing a national movement around healthier babies." Ruth Ann Shepherd, M.D., division director for maternal and child health in the Kentucky Department for Public Health, was presented the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Presidential Meritorious Service Award and recognized as "an early pioneer in recognizing the critical public health problem of preterm births in Kentucky, and that the troubling trend was common to most states in the country."
According to New Public Health, an online publication of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Shepherd?s research "revealed that babies born at 37 or 38 weeks had far worse health outcomes than babies born at 39 or 40 weeks. With support from the leadership at the Kentucky Department of Health, and many other organizations who have since taken up the cause of helping to create conditions for healthier babies, many states are beginning to make strides in preventing early births."
Charles Kendall, chief of staff at the Kentucky Health Department, told the online magazine that the prematurity rate for infants in Kentucky was exceptionally high, averaging at about 36 weeks at the time of birth. "There was a corresponding infant death rate that was far exceeding the national average When she looked at the data, it occurred to her that many of those deaths could have been prevented.," he said. "Much of the prematurity rate had nothing to do with medical issues. The data were telling her that women who smoke are much more likely to deliver early and to have smaller babies. The size of the baby was really the predictor for the infant death rate."
But what Shepard also understood, said Kendall, was that a lot of these births were actually planned for convenience. "That was one of the more startling pieces of information from the data. In many cases it was not a medical issue but a lack of education or convenience. She also brought the science from her work that showed that the fetal brain is still in critical stages of development in those early weeks, and that it?s not at its full capacity until 39 or 40 weeks. That was very compelling. She also said this is not just a Kentucky issue. This is going on everywhere." ( Read more
- Anthem Gives $140,000 For 3-county Program To Cut Smoking By Pregnant Women, Still At 21.9% In Ky., Among Highest In U.s.
Health departments in Christian, Hopkins and Madison counties will start a program called Giving Infants and Families Tobacco Free Starts, with a $140,000 grant to the state health department from the Anthem Foundation. The GIFTS program was created to...
- Anthem Gives Hospital Group Grant To Improve Perinatal Care, Including Discouraging Early, Medically Unnecessary Deliveries
The foundation of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has awarded nearly $259,000 to an arm of the Kentucky Hospital Association to improve perinatal care and outcomes for mothers and their babies by discouraging early, medically unnecessary deliveries...
- Kids Count Shows Ky. Tops In Smoking By Pregnant Mothers, Has A Wide Range Of Local Data About Children's Well-being
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News The annual Kids Count report on children's well-being, released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Kentucky Youth Advocates, says the state leads the nation in smoking by pregnant mothers and more...
- U.s. Preterm Birth Rate Goes Down But Kentucky's Maternal Smoking Rate Still Second Highest, Putting Preterm Babies At Risk
For the fifth year in a row, the preterm birth rate in the United States has dropped. Which is great news. But Kentucky again had a significantly high smoking rate for expectant mothers -- at 32.2 percent, putting us behind only West Virginia (at 36 percent)...
- Mothers Should Try To Go To Full Term In Their Pregnancies, But Many Are Unaware Of The Risks Of Early Delivery, Uk Study Finds
Illustration by Michelle Kumata via KRTBabies who are born before the full term of 40 weeks may have health problems later in life, since important brain development takes place in the very last stages of pregnancy. As such, mothers should try to avoid...
Health News
Kentucky doctor honored for her work in bolstering health and preventing deaths of babies born a few weeks early
A Kentucky neonatalogist was honored this week for giving the state "a role in catalyzing a national movement around healthier babies." Ruth Ann Shepherd, M.D., division director for maternal and child health in the Kentucky Department for Public Health, was presented the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Presidential Meritorious Service Award and recognized as "an early pioneer in recognizing the critical public health problem of preterm births in Kentucky, and that the troubling trend was common to most states in the country."
According to New Public Health, an online publication of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Shepherd?s research "revealed that babies born at 37 or 38 weeks had far worse health outcomes than babies born at 39 or 40 weeks. With support from the leadership at the Kentucky Department of Health, and many other organizations who have since taken up the cause of helping to create conditions for healthier babies, many states are beginning to make strides in preventing early births."
Charles Kendall, chief of staff at the Kentucky Health Department, told the online magazine that the prematurity rate for infants in Kentucky was exceptionally high, averaging at about 36 weeks at the time of birth. "There was a corresponding infant death rate that was far exceeding the national average When she looked at the data, it occurred to her that many of those deaths could have been prevented.," he said. "Much of the prematurity rate had nothing to do with medical issues. The data were telling her that women who smoke are much more likely to deliver early and to have smaller babies. The size of the baby was really the predictor for the infant death rate."
But what Shepard also understood, said Kendall, was that a lot of these births were actually planned for convenience. "That was one of the more startling pieces of information from the data. In many cases it was not a medical issue but a lack of education or convenience. She also brought the science from her work that showed that the fetal brain is still in critical stages of development in those early weeks, and that it?s not at its full capacity until 39 or 40 weeks. That was very compelling. She also said this is not just a Kentucky issue. This is going on everywhere." ( Read more
- Anthem Gives $140,000 For 3-county Program To Cut Smoking By Pregnant Women, Still At 21.9% In Ky., Among Highest In U.s.
Health departments in Christian, Hopkins and Madison counties will start a program called Giving Infants and Families Tobacco Free Starts, with a $140,000 grant to the state health department from the Anthem Foundation. The GIFTS program was created to...
- Anthem Gives Hospital Group Grant To Improve Perinatal Care, Including Discouraging Early, Medically Unnecessary Deliveries
The foundation of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has awarded nearly $259,000 to an arm of the Kentucky Hospital Association to improve perinatal care and outcomes for mothers and their babies by discouraging early, medically unnecessary deliveries...
- Kids Count Shows Ky. Tops In Smoking By Pregnant Mothers, Has A Wide Range Of Local Data About Children's Well-being
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News The annual Kids Count report on children's well-being, released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Kentucky Youth Advocates, says the state leads the nation in smoking by pregnant mothers and more...
- U.s. Preterm Birth Rate Goes Down But Kentucky's Maternal Smoking Rate Still Second Highest, Putting Preterm Babies At Risk
For the fifth year in a row, the preterm birth rate in the United States has dropped. Which is great news. But Kentucky again had a significantly high smoking rate for expectant mothers -- at 32.2 percent, putting us behind only West Virginia (at 36 percent)...
- Mothers Should Try To Go To Full Term In Their Pregnancies, But Many Are Unaware Of The Risks Of Early Delivery, Uk Study Finds
Illustration by Michelle Kumata via KRTBabies who are born before the full term of 40 weeks may have health problems later in life, since important brain development takes place in the very last stages of pregnancy. As such, mothers should try to avoid...