Maternal and Child Health Programs
Maternal Health
The Maternal Health Program’s main purpose is to assure that all pregnant women have the best possible health care, and that New Mexico’s babies have the best possible start in life. The program provides support to Public Health Offices that give prenatal care for women who could not access it otherwise. It licenses Certified Nurse Midwives and Licensed Midwives, gives them regulations to practice by and makes sure they are practicing safely. It studies what is working well and what could be better in pregnancy care through visits to care providers, meetings with community and state experts, statistics and other sources. It works with many kinds of people and groups, including local groups and government agencies, to solve problems and to strengthen pregnancy care resources.
Table of Contents
Child Health Programs: Promoting Child Wellness
The Child Health Program provides statewide public health leadership to improve the health of children ages birth-8, emphasizing early childhood wellness and family involvement. The program works to strengthen community health and help families adopt healthy behaviors for themselves and their children.
The Child Health Programs works collaboratively with other child serving state agencies and community-based programs to provide health leadership, program updates to community initiatives, Results Based Accountability and Collective Impact, keep partners informed about early childhood related issues and topics of interest in New Mexico and nationally, and work together to align and eliminate duplication of efforts.
Collaborations
One collaborative effort is the New Mexico Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS)-Act Early State Team. The ECCS-Act Early State Team is an organized, purposeful group consisting of interrelated and interdependent partners representing health, mental health, social services, state agencies, families and caregivers, home visitors, early childhood care and education, and health care providers. The team works collaboratively on activities to enhance early childhood system building and demonstrate improved outcomes in population-based children’s health and family well-being.
Developmental Monitoring, Screening, & Referral
To download the app, visit either the Milestone Tracker for Apple Devices page or the Milestone Tracker for Android Devices page. Visit the CDC's Milestone Tracker Mobile App page to learn more.
Promoting the appropriate administration and scoring of developmental screening tools contributes to improved health outcomes for young children by identifying developmental and social-emotional delays early. In the US, 17% of children have a developmental or behavioral disability. Less than half of children with developmental delays are identified before starting school. Research shows that when delays are identified and children and families are referred for appropriate early intervention treatment services, the child’s development can be greatly improved and the child is better prepared to enter school ready to learn.
Since 2009, the Family Health Bureau/Child Health Program has offered free training and materials to early childhood providers in the administration and scoring of developmental screening tools, the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and ASQ: Social Emotional (ASQSE).
Through the support of the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems grant (ECCS) and with cooperation and collaboration of the Children, Youth & Families Department’s Office of Child Development and the Brindle Foundation, the Child Health Program offered a Training of Trainers Seminar May 188-20, 2016, presented by the Brookes Publishing Company. 25 new trainers are now available throughout the state to assist early childhood serving organizations, including physician offices and medical clinics, in applying best-practices in administering and scoring the screening tools. Additionally, the new trainers will be able to assist the community-based programs in communicating the importance of brain development, screening, and appropriate referral for additional services for children and families.
By working together, DOH and CYFD will be able to sustain the work, build capacity in early childhood-serving organizations, and continue to promote appropriate developmental and behavioral screening and referral for young children. The new trainers will each present at least 2 trainings annually, in their agreed upon geographic area, to other community-based programs, including physician offices and medical clinics. Our goal is to eventually have all early childhood providers trained in the correct administration and scoring of the ASQ and to increase the number of young children who are screened and appropriately referred, as needed.
For more information, contact Gloria Bonner or someone from Maternal Child Health - Ages Stages Questionnaire Trainers Roster who are available to provide training.
Visit the Medical Home Portal's Developmental Screening page for more information.
The Child Health Program, through the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems: Building Health through Integration (ECCS) initiative developed a Maternal Child Health - Developmental Milestones poster and Maternal Child Health - Developmental Screening Fact Sheet to help parents of infants and toddlers.
- Maternal Child Health - Developmental Milestones
- Informacion a observer y ayudar a sus ninos a crecer
Milestones in Action Photo and Video Library
Milestones in Action is a FREE image library that features photos and videos of children demonstrating developmental milestones from 2 months to 5 years of age. This tool was created to help parents, early care and education providers, and healthcare providers identify developmental milestones in children and know if there is cause for concern.
Benefits
- Free!
- Shows parents what each milestone looks like.
- Appeals to caregivers with limited literacy skills.
- Great for showing complex milestones.
- No permissions needed to use the photos and images in this library for educational or awareness-building purposes.
Ways to Use
Parents and Caregivers
Use this library as an aid in completing the milestones checklist for your child's age. To see these photos and videos with milestones checklists, visit the Developmental Milestones page.
Professionals
- Embed and share photos and videos on your website and within presentations.
- Share photos and videos to support information given during trainings.
- Use Milestones in Action to support observations and conversations with parents on age-appropriate milestones.
- Share photos and videos on social media to build community awareness of developmental milestones. Please explore the Milestones in Action library.
Maternal Depression
Maternal and child health are linked. Maternal depression is a serious and common condition that affects mother and child, with possible lasting, damaging impacts on the child’s health. Maternal depression, sometimes called post-partum depression or perinatal mood disorder, presents significant early risk to child development, the mother-infant bond, and the family. Maternal depression screening and treatment is an important tool to protect the child from potential adverse physical and developmental effects of maternal depression. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says screening mothers for maternal depression is a best practice for primary care pediatricians caring for infants and their families and can be integrated into the well-child care scheduled, as well as included in the prenatal visit.
Maternal depression can be treated. If you, or a new mom that you, know need help, call 1-800-944-4773 or visit Maternal Child Health - Postpartum Support New Mexico for more information.
NOTE: Both of the designs above are available as magnets. To receive your own magnet in English or Spanish, simply call us at our 505-476-8998 number and request one today!
The Child Health Program, through the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems: Building Health through Integration (ECCS) initiative developed an easy to read pamphlet for new moms to help understand maternal depression.
Visit the Medical Home Portal's Maternal Depression Screening page for more information.
Social Emotional Development
Social emotional development in infants and toddlers involves learning to interact with parents, siblings, and other people in the child’s circle of influence, and understand and control their own emotions. Infants begin to develop relationships with the people around them from day one, but the process of learning to communicate, interact, and share, to develop trust, empathy, compassion, and a sense of right and wrong takes longer. Learning to regulate and control emotions is a long process. Children continue to develop their social emotional skills as they progress through childhood and on. To engage parents in their child’s social and emotional development, the Child Health Program has developed books and videos.
Recent Activity
News Articles
Latest
- Applications being accepted for Birthing Workforce Retention Fund (March 20, 2024)
- State’s Family Connects home visiting program achieves national certification (March 18, 2024)
- A Challenge for Many Families (January 27, 2016)
Popular
- Three Strategies to Reduce Infant Mortality Rates (March 3, 2015)
- Raising Awareness for SIDS (October 28, 2015)
- Life-Threatening Infections for Newborns (August 5, 2015)
Health Data
Latest
- Infant Mortality in New Mexico 2009-2014 (Epidemiology Report)
Publications
Latest
- Proclamation of Safe Sleep Awareness Month (General)
- Title V Block Grant Application FY 2020 & Annual Report FY 2018 (Report)
- Day Two - Toddlers and the World of NO! Transcript (General)
Popular
- Improving Developmental Care for Young Children and Their Families in New Mexico (Report)
- Opportunities to Strengthen Early Childhood Services (Report)
- Maternal Child Health - Maternal Depression Pamphlet (Marketing)
- Informacion de la Depresion Materna (Spanish Version)
Resources
Latest
- Day Two Desmoronando: Niños Pequeños & Rabietas
- Day Two Falling Apart: Toddlers & Tantrums
- Day Two Pequeños & Tiempo de Pantalla