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Perinatal Health
Perinatal health relates to the health of women and babies before, during, and after birth.
Maine CDC works with healthcare providers, Maternal Fetal Medicine and other specialists, hospital systems, public health programs, community agencies and families to increase awareness of perinatal health issues to improve health of women, mothers and infants.
Examples of perinatal health issues are:
- Access to prenatal care, including care related to complications
- Use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, marijuana and other illegal substances during pregnancy
- Birth defects, like spina bifida
- Maternal medical conditions that affect pregnancy like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension
- Unnecessary labor induction and C-sections
- Premature birth and low birth-weight babies
- Breastfeeding
- Infant mortality, including infant sleep-related death
- Shaken Baby Syndrome, sometimes call abusive head trauma
Specific Priorities in this area:
- Promoting physiologic birth to reduce unnecessary C-sections
- Increase the number of infants who sleep in safe sleep environments
- Improve initiation and duration of breastfeeding
- Reduce the percent of pregnant women who smoke
For more information contact:
Angie Bellefleur, MCH Program Manager
Tel: (207)287-4802
TTY: Maine relay 711
Fax: (207)287-4743
Email: angie.bellefleur@maine.gov