Maternal and Child Health News
Building a better bassinet
November 9, 2021 Carolina faculty helped develop an innovative hospital bassinet that enables breastfeeding and chestfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, and mother-infant bonding while improving newborn safety.
Positive social ‘nudges’ could encourage more providers to treat opioid use disorder
November 3, 2021 Positive social messaging can encourage more providers to seek training to administer medicine for opioid use disorder, which could lead to more patients gaining access to this life-saving treatment.
Palmquist receives Gillings Faculty Award for Excellence in Health Equity Research
October 21, 2021 Dr. Aunchalee Palmquist has been selected as the recipient of this year’s Gillings Faculty Award for Excellence in Health Equity Research for her work to address the intersectionality of perinatal maternal, newborn and young child health disparities globally and in the United States, with an emphasis on breastfeeding.
Multiple-drug involvement in overdose deaths has risen in NC
October 14, 2021 Between 2015 and 2019, North Carolina saw an increase in overdose deaths that involved multiple drugs, highlighting the rapidly changing nature of drug overdoses in the state.
The Abstract: October 11, 2021
October 11, 2021
UNC awarded $11.7 million to help providers improve HPV vaccine communication, uptake among adolescents
October 6, 2021 Provider recommendations are key to increasing HPV vaccination rates. A new $11.7 million research initiative, led by UNC Gillings researchers, will equip health care providers with the support necessary to communicate about HPV vaccines more effectively.
Gillings students propose framework for addressing health disparities in US maternal mortality
October 1, 2021 Five students in the Population Health for Clinicians concentration collaborated on a publication that creates a model for understanding and addressing determinants that contribute to maternal mortality in the United States.
Partner resistance affects contraceptive use in Kenya
September 21, 2021 The resistance that male partners may have toward contraceptive use contributes to barriers in access for women and birthing people seeking family planning resources in Western Kenya.
Marcia Herman-Giddens establishes fund to prevent child abuse homicides
September 14, 2021 Dr. Marcia E. Herman-Giddens created a fund to continue her work to recognize and prevent the deaths of children at the hands of caregivers. In this interview, Herman-Giddens shares more about her work — which led to statewide laws requiring review of child deaths and inquiries in to what could prevent them — and her reasons for giving. The fund honors the memory of her son, William D. Popper.
NC Medicaid review suggests many infants with prenatal opioid exposure are born to those receiving treatment
September 9, 2021 A new study led by Dr. Anna Austin suggests that, among Medicaid patients in North Carolina, about half of infants with prenatal opioid exposure are born to people receiving medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder – and these babies are more likely to experience better outcomes after birth.
