Mission
We are a statewide partnership
of health care professionals
and public and private organizations working to improve
perinatal health in West Virginia.
- We want health care providers to
be able to best care
for pregnant women and their babies. - We
encourage new laws that promote better health
for pregnant women and their babies. - We
create opportunities for perinatal professionals
to share their expertise with each other. - We
spread the latest knowledge about perinatal
health through educational programs. - We
work to reduce tobacco and drug use among
pregnant women and foster oral health care in
pregnant women and infants. - We
study research and trends in mother/child
health and work to distribute that information.
Perinatal Partnership Awards First Drug-Free Moms and Babies Grant to Shenandoah Valley Medical Systems
The WV Perinatal Partnership awarded its first Drug-free Moms and Babies grant Shenandoah Valley Medical Systems (SVMS) in February 2012. SVMS provides comprehensive primary health care, including maternity, pediatric and behavioral health services in a single site located in Martinsburg. The new program will utilize existing in-house staff, including nurse midwives, obstetrician/gynecologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and certified addictions counselors. Grant funding will be used to hire an additional part time psychotherapist/substance abuse provider (SAP) and a Recovery Coach to work with pregnant and post-partum women. Grant funds also will help pay for drug testing, including cord tissue, incentives, and other program expenses. See more.
2011 Perinatal Summit Proceedings Posted; Sandy Young Receives "Exemplary Perinatal Partner Award"
Sandy Young, RN, DCP, WV Perinatal Partners' "Exemplary Perinatal Partner of the Year"
Proceedings of the 2011 WV Perinatal Partnership Summit held December 1-2, 2011 are now available here. At the summit, Sandy Young, RN, DNP, an employee of Thomas Health Care System in Charleston was named "Exemplary Perinatal Partner of the Year."
In early 2007 Sandy joined the WV Perinatal Partnership and began working with the Committee on Drug Use During Pregnancy. Her particular interest was how newborns were affected by being exposed in utero to addictive substances. As a doctoral student in nursing practice at the University of Kentucky at that time, Sandy took on the topic as a part of her research and dissertation. Sandy Young then developed a “Tool Kit for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome” for use in newborn nurseries. Sandy has since delivered her message around West Virginia about the current research and treatment options for withdrawing neonates. Sandy developed a reference handbook for nursing and medical professionals, and a poster for the newborn nurseries, that details the various illicit substances and how they affect the neonate.
Sandy is an exemplary partner as she has given generously of her time and expertise to help nursing and medical professionals around West Virginia to better understand and identify affected newborns. Sandy has traveled all over the state presenting on the topic as part of the Perinatal Outreach Education Project. She has presented at 16 hospitals around the state, the DHHR in Martinsburg, The 2010 West Virginia Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers Conference, the 2009 and 2010 Perinatal Summit, and the Women’s Health Conference in Charleston. Through these presentations, Sandy has helped us to reach over 400 maternity, health care providers and social workers in the State.
The Perinatal Partnership wishes to honor Sandy for the dedication and passion that she brings to her many presentations and her willingness to serve the Partnership by sharing the message. She is well on her way towards her goal of speaking to every delivering hospital in the state.
Obstetric simulator helps teach control of blood loss during delivery
Sara Marriott, MSN, Allan Chamberlain, MD, Jed Rivers, CRNA, Judy Keeling, RN, Sara Price, MD, Lou Ann Craig, RN, Kari Spencer, RN, Regina Grome, PA-C in the massive hemorrhage scenario.
Hemorrhage in obstetrics has increased in incidence, including a 26% increase from 1994 to 2006. Most of the time it is a routine occurrence, easily controlled. But hemorrhage remains among the leading causes of maternal death. Fortunately, new research on control of bleeding is changing patient care for the better. New products and techniques have been introduced that can save lives.
On December 15, Dr. Allan Chamberlain and Amanda Burton, MSN, FNP, RN presented best practices, a sampling of protocols and policies, and the opportunity to practice techniques of blood loss estimation and control on the Noelle Obstetric Simulator. Nurses, physicians, medical students, midwives, and blood bank technologists participated in an interdisciplinary simulation experience at St. Mary’s School of Nursing.
Babies in withdrawal on the rise: In month 19% exposed to drugs, alcohol in-utero
A West Virginia Perinatal Partnership study of babies born in eight state hospitals, including WVU Hospitals, during a one-month period in 2009 found that 19 percent of the babies — nearly one in five — had been exposed in-utero to drugs or alcohol. Thirteen percent of babies born at WVU Hospitals that month tested positive for drugs and 4 percent tested positive for alcohol. Read the article from the Morgantown Dominion-Post.
Report Gives W.Va. D for Premature Birth Rate
The Charleston Daily Mail reports in a November 2 article written by Zack Herold that while West Virginia's premature birth rate is on the decline, the state still received a "D" on the March of Dimes' annual report. Dr. Luis Bracero, one of the Champions of the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership's First Baby Initiative, is heavily quoted in the article. Read
Drug Free Moms and Babies ("DFMB")Project - Grants Available
The West Virginia Perinatal Partnership is pleased to announce the availability of funding for projects to provide comprehensive services for pregnant women with substance abuse problems. The new Drug Free Moms and Babies Project will provide funds for up to four pilot sites around the state. Read more about the project and download the RFP and other helpful information HERE.
Three W. Va. NICUs will Receive Telemedicine Equipment.
Frontier Communications is helping connect pediatric specialists at the states three Neonatal Intensive care units with rural hospitals and physicians. Representatives of the company presented a check for $100,000 check to CAMC hospital administrators on July 6, 2011. The funds will be used for further development of the “Connect to Care” perinatal telemedicine network.
Working with the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership, CAMC Institute has spent the past several years designing and developing a statewide Perinatal Telehealth Program. The program was designed to provide rural health care sites with the equipment and training necessary to link their organizations (and obstetricians, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, nurses, pregnant women and their families) with tertiary care centers (and perinatologists). This project will allow high risk pregnant women and their health care providers to receive perinatal consultation services, education and obstetrical referrals without leaving their rural providers.
Now, thanks to Frontier, newborn babies and their pediatric providers in rural areas will benefit from closer communication with the specialists at NICUs located in Charleston, Huntington, and Morgantown. Dr. Stefan Maxwell, neonatologist at CAMC Women and Children’s Hospitals accepted the check on behalf of the “Connect to Care” Project. Funding for the project was originally received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Rural Urban Systems Grant, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, West Virginia Health Care Authority, and matching funds from participating sites.
First Baby Initiative is Underway
The
West Virginia Perinatal Partnership is pleased to be collaborating
with the West Virginia Health Care Authority, March of Dimes-WV
Chapter, and West Virginia hospitals in a project to improve
health outcomes of mothers and their babies. The “West
Virginia First Baby Initiative” is a quality improvement
initiative that seeks to reduce cesarean sections in first-time
mothers. The photo above was taken at the First Baby Initiative
meeting in Charleston on July 29, 2011. Pictured are representatives
from 25 West Virginia hospitals participating in the Initiative.
"Healthy Babies Are Worth the Wait" t-shirts were provided by
the March of Dimes--West Virginia Chapter.
Report Issued: West Virginia Quality Collaborative for Eliminating Non-Medically Indicated Elective Deliveries Prior to 39 Weeks Gestation
The West Virginia Health Care Authority has issued a report summarizing an effort undertaken in West Virginia to reduce the number of elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks gestation. These deliveries were found to represent a significant percentage of the overall deliveries in the state and present both a clinical and economic issue due to the increased risk for maternal and neonatal complications that accompanies them. The six month project engaged 14 of the state’s 30 hospitals that deliver babies. The participating hospitals represented 70% of the total deliveries in the state. Six months after the implementation of the Collaborative, the rate of elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks without a medical indication had decreased by more than 50%. One year after the completion of the Collaborative, the reduction has been maintained. Read the report.
The participating hospitals include: Raleigh General Hospital, Beckley, WV; St. Joseph’s Hospital, Buckhannon, WV; CAMC and Thomas Hospital, Charleston, WV; Cabell Huntington Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital, Huntington, WV; Greenbrier Valley Medical Center, Lewsiburg, WV; Monongalia Health System and West Virginia University Hospital, Morgantown, WV;Camden Clark Hospital, Parkersburg, WV; Princeton Hospital, Princeton/Bluefield, WV; Ohio Valley Medical Center and Reynolds Memorial Hospital, Wheeling, WV; and Weirton Medical Center, Weirton, WV.
Blueprint to Improve Perinatal Health
In
2006, thirty-three organizations partnered to uncover reasons
for declining healthy birth outcomes in West Virginia and find
solutions. Over 200 perinatal professionals participated
in a Key Informant Survey and 90 contributed in drafting the
results of that study and recommendations:
Blueprint
to Improve West Virginia Perinatal Health (2006).
Then after a year's worth of focused effort, the Partnership
reported on progress implementing the Blueprint and
published
Reports on the Blueprint to Improve West Virginia Perinatal
Health (2007).
West Virginia health care professionals voiced a strong desire
to participate in the process to improve perinatal care.
They indicated that although many elements of a cohesive system
are present in the State, we must move towards a statewide system
rather than a fractured regional approach. We need to utilize
new methods of communication, provide better support for medical
professionals in rural areas, better utilize our intellectual
resources, and more fully implement parent support and education
programs. The West Virginia Perinatal Partnership was
born of these desires.
New Study Released on Late Pre-Term Births
The West Virginia Division of Health and Human Resources Health Statistics Center has released a new study on Late Preterm Births 1993-2007. The study reports that the rates of C-section among women with no medical risk factors increased 34.9% (4.3% to 5.8%) between 1993 and 1997 and 2003 and 2007, compared with a smaller increase of 13.0% (10.0% to 11.3%) among women with at least one medical risk factor. Read the report.