Welcome Baby Kit for New Parents

The Regional Perinatal System (RPS) has been chosen to implement and distribute the Welcome Baby Kit for new parents in San Diego County. The Kit is a statewide project of the California Children and Families Commission. Packaged in a compact, colorful box, the kit contains a wealth of information and resources for new parents, including: six videos on the early years, child care, safety, health and nutrition, discipline, and early literacy; a series of parenting education brochures with information on child development, early literacy, prenatal care, nutrition, dental care, immunizations, child care, child safety, and tobacco; a Parent's Guide with information on topics including pregnancy, newborn feeding, early childhood development, childcare and parenting; an easy-to-use resource and referral guide to local information and services, and a small book for parents to read to their babies.

In the fall of 2000, RPS held a series of meetings countywide to ask parents, health care providers, child development experts and others to help customize the contents of the Kit for San Diego County parents. RPS also surveyed 18

hospitals and birthing centers about how they currently provide information to new parents. Based on this broad input, RPS made recommendations to the San Diego County Commission about the contents of the Kit and how and when it should be distributed to expectant or new parents. RPS will begin distribution of the Kits at several pilot sites, and will quickly move to distribution throughout the county, reaching new parents through such venues as: hospitals, prenatal clinics, physicians' offices, home visiting programs, WIC programs, public health and safety programs, and parenting classes. RPS will train providers who distribute the Kits to ensure that they are familiar with the contents and can use them in their work with parents. Beginning in winter 2001, the Kit will be provided to all new parents in San Diego County - over 40,000 families per year. It is available in English and Spanish at this time. The Regional Perinatal System is a collaborative project of Children's Hospital, Sharp HealthCare and UCSD Medical Center and is funded by the California Department of Health Services. RPS serves as a nonpartisan liaison, consultant and resource for all perinatal providers in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

For more information please contact the San Diego & Imperial Counties Regional Perinatal System, 4542 Ruffner St. Suite #140, San Diego, CA 92111-2250, Tel: 858-467-4990 or Email: regionalperinatal@ucsd.edu.

Volunteer Opportunities: If you have experience with coordinating membership and fundraising activities, the SDCBC needs you!

Paid Opportunities: Are you IBCLC certified? We need presenters for our in-office lactation education program. ($100/session)

Please call the SDCBC at (858) 966-5981 for more info.

Interested in having your jobs posted here? All lactation related jobs can be posted here for free! For more information, please call us at (858) 966-5891 or email us at cerickson@chsd.org.

Breastfeeding and HIV: A Dilemma for the Developing World
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breastfed at least 3 months had the same transmission rate at 6 months (19%) and were only slightly higher at 15 months (25%). Mixed feeding (breastmilk and formula) had the highest transmission rates (36%) and was, unfortunately, the most popular method of feeding. The increased infection rate associated with mixed feeding is thought to result from decreased protection from breastmilk and intestinal damage from contaminated foods that allows the HIV virus present in the breastmilk to invade tissue. The next step will be to define the safest duration of exclusive breastfeeding and to determine when and how to wean.

References:

  1. Coutsoudis, A., Pillay, K., Kuhn, L., Spooner, E., Tsai, W.Y., & Coovadia, H.M. (2001). Method of feeding and transmission of HIV-1 from mothers to children by 15 months of age: Prospective cohort study from Durban, South Africa. AIDS 2001, 15, 379-387.
  2. De Cock, K.M., Fowler, M.G., & Mercier, E. (2000). Prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in resource poor countries: Translating research into policy and practice. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283, 1175-1182.
  3. Nduati, R., John, G., Mbori-Ngacha, D., Richardson, B., Overbaugh, J., Mwatha, A., Ndinya-Achola, J., Bwayo, J., Onyango, F.E., Hughes, J., & Kreiss, J. (2000). Effect of breastfeeding and formula feeding on transmission of HIV-1. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283, 1167-1174.

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