Maternal Health News and Updates
The Results are in, and They Prove the Effectiveness of CHW-led Maternal-Child Health Programs
It’s no secret that we are huge advocates of using the Community Health Worker model to increase breastfeeding rates among underserved populations. It’s an effective strategy that addresses the cultural barriers that many Hispanic women face when trying to access healthcare resources for maternal-infant health. The health and economic benefits of breastfeeding are well documented. However, despite breastfeeding’s distinction as an important public health issue, breastfeeding rates among the U.S. Hispanic population fall below Healthy People 2020 targets.
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Have fun while teaching mothers about breastfeeding with our free Myth or Fact Card Game
This bilingual card game can be printed out and used to spark conversation among participants about the realities of breastfeeding. To print, ensure that pages are printed double-sided and flipped along the short edge of the page, then cut the cards into fourths.
Instinto Maternal program travels north to follow migrants
MHP Salud’s Instinto Maternal program that seeks to spread best community practices in breastfeeding has migrated to follow the migrant farm workers it serves. The W. K. Kellogg Foundation-funded program kicked off last December in west Florida, and it has moved north for the summer, where it will spend five months in northwest Ohio and west Michigan. With a new location and new staff, the program is collecting information that will be used to develop a program that centers around two questions about women who are able to balance farm work and breastfeeding: How do they do it, and how can their peers adopt their strategies?a new location and new staff, the program is collecting information that will be used to develop a program that centers around two questions about women who are able to balance farm work and breastfeeding: How do they do it, and how can their peers adopt their strategies?
Instinto Maternal: Finding Innovative Solutions within the Community
Breastfeeding while working can be challenging. Breastfeeding while employed as a farmworker may bring additional challenges like long working hours, unreliable breaks and an outdoor work environment . Yet some women who work in agricultural fields manage to feed their babies the recommended diet of exclusive breast milk through the first six months of life (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). MHP Salud's innovative new program, Instinto Maternal (Maternal Instinct), asks "how do they do it?"
