Preventing Infant Mortality: the

Development of a Statewide

Preconception Health Plan

Anna Bess Brown, MPH

Amy Mullenix, MSPH, MSWAlvina Long Valentin, RN, MPH

Sarah Verbiest, MPH, MSW

Why it Matters

Pregnancy is too late to change many behaviors and exposures that put the infant at risk

Pregnancy may unveil a woman’s risk for future disease and reproductive problems

Healthy women are more likely to have healthy babies – the life course perspective

Preconception Health History• History of Preconception Leadership• NC Folic Acid Campaign• NC Medical Journal Infant Mortality

Issue• State Infant Mortality Collaborative

(2004-06) examined infant mortality• CDC’s Recommendations for

Preconception Health and Health Care prompted response

Looking Back Moving Forward

Plan Development• Assemble leadership team

– including the new DPH preconception coordinator

• Collect and examine data• Convene Think Tank mtgs• Create vision statement

and guiding principles• Collect new ideas at

Summit• Choose areas of focus

Participants• 75+ participants in Preconception

Health Think Tank meetings including

• Dept. of Public Instruction• local health departments• public and private universities• Division of Health & Human Services• community-based organizations• non-profit agencies• consumers

Leadership Team

Data Collection

• Quantitative• Qualitative Purpose

• Find the gaps• Find focus• Justify the cause• Measure outcomes

Statewide Meetings

March 2007 Think Tank Meeting #1• To initiate a focused, collaborative,

comprehensive process to create a state Preconception Action Plan

May 2007 Think Tank Meeting #2 • To collect diverse ideas and understand

how preconception fits into existing workAugust 2007 Think Tank Meeting #3

• To present priorities and focus areas

Vision Statement

This effort seeks to improve the health of women of childbearing age in North Carolina. Through a collaborative focus on women’s wellness, North Carolina will improve the quality of life for women as well as the health of infants.

Guiding Principles• Focus on the whole woman – not only her

reproductive capacity• Consider the woman’s health needs and

related wellness recommendations within the context of her family and community

• Avoid messages that imply that certain women should or should not become mothers

• Prioritize programs with the potential to address health disparities

• Infuse community development and consumer leadership into each step of the plan

Next Steps

• Share information from Summit• Conduct meeting December 2007• Convene Preconception Summit in

January• Finish Plan • Get started with who

and what we have!

Contact uswww.mombaby.org

Anna Bess Brown abrown@marchofdimes.com

Amy Mullenix amullenix@marchofdimes.com

Alvina Long Valentin alvina.long@ncmail.net

Sarah Verbiest sarahv@med.unc.edu