(Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Staff from the Center for Urban Population Health demonstrated their personal commitment to giving every baby a healthy start by participating in the March of Dimes' March for Babies on Saturday, April 26th at Veteran's Park, Milwaukee. The team, named "Groovin' for Babies", raised over $1,300 in two weeks. Fifteen Center staff and family members participated in the actual walk, and many Center colleagues and affiliates also donated substantially to the cause.
"We had an excellent turnout at the event, despite the cold and blustery wind, and we had a great time 'Marching for Babies,'" said Trina Salm Ward, the Center's team captain. "We also devised fun ways to involve all Center staff, even those who couldn't participate in the walk, through making t-shirts and creating special Marchin' for Babies Jeans Day passes. It was a great experience for our Center." The Center is planning on participating in the walk next year and hopes to double their fundraising goal.
The March of Dimes helps moms and babies by:
- Advocating for better health care coverage for the most vulnerable
- Fighting for better newborn screening standards in every state
- Providing the best information on healthy pregnancy and delivery
- Helping moms to overcome substance abuse with community outreach programs
- Increasing access to prenatal care with mobile clinics and transportation to doctors
- Educating generations of parents on the value of vaccination against disease
"This event was a great opportunity for us as a Center to demonstrate not only our professional dedication to infant health, but also our personal dedication to this important issue," said Ron A. Cisler, PhD, Director of the Center for Urban Population Health. The Center for Urban Population Health recently identified infant and maternal health as one of three high priority areas to focus specific resources on addressing. The Center is collaborating with multiple partners, including the Milwaukee Health Department, Aurora Health Care, the Wisconsin Association of Perinatal Care, United Way, and fellow researchers, on a variety of projects around infant and maternal health.
A few example of the Center's projects addressing infant health are described below:
- The Center has provided research funding and support, through the Center Scientist Development Program (funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Fund through the Public Health Development Plan) to two faculty from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in the area of infant health.
- Dr. Jennifer Runquist is studying postpartum depression in children with special health care needs.
- Dr. Teresa Johnson is serving as principal investigator of Racine's Fetal and Infant Mortality Review.
- In addition, the Center has been collaborating with the Wisconsin Association of Perinatal Care to develop and implement PeriData.Net®, a platform for Wisconsin birth hospitals to enter and transfer birth outcome data.
- The Center has been collaborating closely with the City of Milwaukee Health Department and the United Way Teen Pregnancy Prevention Oversight Committee to analyze and further understand the circumstances around teen pregnancy in Milwaukee. Naoyo Mori, the Center's Epidemiologist, provided data analysis to support Health Commissioner Bevan Baker's goal-setting for reductions in teen pregnancy in Milwaukee. A summary of Dr. Mori's preliminary work is available.
- The Center is also providing evaluation and research support to Aurora Health Care's Task Force on Pre- and Inter-Conception Care.
- In order to understand the prevelance and needs of Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) in Milwaukee, the Center, along with the Milwaukee Health Department and the Wisconsin Southeast Regional Center for CSHCN, conducted a CSHCN screening instrument as part of the Greater Milwaukee Survey in 2004. The partners are collaborating to implement the screener in the 2008 Greater Milwaukee Survey to begin to assess trends.
