West Virginia Perinatal Partnership

News and Events

Childbirth Connection Launches Webinar Series
Starting in September, Childbirth Connection, through its Transforming Maternity Care Partnership will offer monthly webinars designed to help improve the quality and value of the US maternity care system.  Visit here for the schedule and registration information.

Maternity Care Reform Legislation Introduced to Congress
Earlier this month, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard of California introduced reform legislation designed to improve healthy outcomes for mothers and babies. The Maximizing Optimal Maternity Services for the 21st Century Act (HR 5807) puts a national focus on evidence-based maternity care. Among other provisions, the bill would establish an Interagency Coordinating Committee charged with promoting best practices, and would authorize a public awareness campaign to educate about the best proven practices for maternity care. The full text of the bill is available online. More about this legislation is available on Congresswoman Roybal-Allard's website.

West Virginia Perinatal Partners releases Model Informed Consent: Screening & Testing for Controlled or Addictive Substances in Pregnancy and Model Policy: Substance Screening and Testing of the Pregnant Patient at the Outpatient Visit (Antepartum and Postpartum). 

Nerhood Retires
The Marshall University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology announced  the retirement of Robert C. Nerhood, MD, Chair of the department since 1992.  During Dr. Nerhood's tenure as Department Chair, the Residency program in Obstetrics and Gynecology was solidified as an accredited  four year program. Thirty six physicians have completed the residency program and are now practicing OB/Gyn physicians in West Virginia and in several other states. Dr Nerhood's administrative acumen  extended to serving as Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs,  Vice President of the Board of Directors of University Physicians & Surgeons, Inc., Chairman of the  Board  of Directors of Cabell Huntington Hospital,  Chairman of the West Virginia Section of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and member and Chair for the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership.

NEW! View our Perinatal Learning Opportunities Calendar for upcoming continuing education events.

Mission

West Virginia Ranks Highest In Nation for Infant Mortality Among the White Race

CDC's recently issued National Vital Statistics Report compares infant mortality rates by state for 2004-2006 (See table 3 on page 20). West Virginia ranked about 15th overall among the 50 states plus DC for that time period.  However, In terms of the white infant mortality race, West Virginia ranked highest in the nation.  When Hispanic ethnicity was accounted for, West Virginia tied 2nd highest for infant mortality compared to non-hispanic white mothers (West Virginia tied with Wyoming behind Oklahoma).

Perinatal Partners Promote Text4baby

West Virginia Perinatal Partners has become an outreach partner with the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition to promote an educational program called text4baby. Launched in February, 2010, text4baby is a free mobile information service designed to promote maternal and child health. Text4baby provides pregnant women and new moms with information to help them care for their health and give their babies the best possible start in life.  Women who sign up for the service by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE in Spanish) will receive free SMS text messages each week, timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth

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 est 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.

Hospitals Honored

Twenty-two hospitals across the Mountain State were honored by the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership for their participation in two initiatives: The West Virginia Obstetrical Collaborative Quality Initiative and the Hospital Self-Assessment Initiative. The awards were given during a special ceremony held during the Fifth Annual Growing Healthy Children Conference, November 12-13, 2009, at the Robert C. Byrd WVU Health Science Division in Charleston. More