Healthy Babies!

Did you know that in Milwaukee, an African American infant is more than 3 times more likely to die in its first year of life than a white infant?

Here's what we're doing to make sure that ALL babies get their best shot at a healthy life:

1.  Along with our sister MCW Family Medicine programs, the St. Joseph Family Medicine Program is partnering with the State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services and Americhoice HMO, to use the Family Centered Medical Home model to develop a pilot program to actively manage obstetrical patients at high risk for low birth-weight, premature, and otherwise at-risk babies .  The pilot project begins in January of 2011.

2. Encouraged by the success of the last year's Obstetrical Skills Clinic for students at the Medical College of Wisconsin, we have decided to repeat this workshop again this year.  It will be held at MCW on November XX, 2010.  I am expecting that we will again be able to practice doing ultrasounds and fetal doppler monitoring on our pregnant clinic volunteers, as well as a knot tying workshop.  All are welcome.

3.  Wheaton Franciscan St. Joseph is sponsoring a talk: Racial Disparity in Birth Outcome:  A Life Course Perspecitve- Late Term Births:  A Pathological Outcome, at its 26th Annual Perinatal Progress Conference, on November 17, 2010, at the Italian Conference Center.  Contact Debbie Gleisberg, BSN, RNC-NIC at 414-447-2622 for further information.