A Public Health Educational Campaign For Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) Intervention

Purpose: The rate of infant mortality serves as a crucial indicator of the overall health of society (CDC, 2022). The five leading causes of infant mortality are birth defects, preterm birth, sudden infant death syndrome, injuries, and maternal pregnancy complications. The prevalence of infant mortality varies across states, with eastern states and minority-ethnicity infants having higher prevalence. This thesis proposes utilizing the Safe to Sleep framework to introduce Giving Breath, a public health education campaign that introduced breastfeeding as an intervention to Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID). Methods: Analyze current and new policies\u27 impact on women\u27s rights to breastfeed their infants. Compare institution databases (California Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that reflect the prevalence of SUID among various ethnicities in the United States. Develop the proposed framework with relevant literature on breastfeeding and SUID within PubMed and the National Library of Medicine. Results: The prevalence of SUID has decreased through the implementation of initiatives (Safe to Sleep) and policies (The California Lactation Accommodation Law of 2002, The Breastfeeding Education & Support of 2007, and Providing Urgent Maternal Protection (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act of 2022). Further enforcement of policies through Giving Breath is needed to decrease the prevalence of SUID, particularly for unknown causes. Conclusion: Public health education campaigns have successfully encouraged behavior change at individual, interpersonal, community, organizational, and structural levels. Giving Breath can encourage mothers to breastfeed their infant without fearing shame and sexualization, recognizing it as the most natural act they can do

Safe Sleep in the NICU

Sleep related infant deaths continue to be an issue in Kentucky with 95% of deaths having at least one sleep related risk factor identified. Evidence from the literature suggests safe sleep practice in the neonatal intensive care unit is inconsistent and nurses may face many barriers when implementing safe sleep. The purpose of this project was to determine current nursing knowledge and practice of safe sleep, as well as how parent education occurs in a local NICU through the use of a survey. The survey was developed and distributed to staff at University of Louisville Hospital NICU nurses to determine their current knowledge, practice, and any perceived barriers to safe sleep practice. Nurses working a minimum of six months prior to the survey period were eligible to participate in the survey, and adjunct staff members such as respiratory, physical, and occupational therapy were excluded. Survey participants were recruited with the use of posters within the unit as well an incentive gift card raffle upon completion of the survey. Survey results were analyzed using SurveyMonkey™ and Microsoft Excel™ to determine frequencies and means of nurses practicing safe sleep as described by the AAP. Survey results were limited by the low sample size and low participation rate, however, the results indicated nurses face barriers with implementing safe sleep and practice and education of caregivers begins as the infant nears discharge

2022 Child Fatality Annual Report

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-dept-health-child-fatalities-in-tennessee-report/1000/thumbnail.jp

Retinopathy of prematurity screening criteria and work load implications at Tygerberg Children's Hospital, South Africa: A cross-sectional study

High-income country ROP Screening guidelines are not appropriate for middle-income countries and screening requirements may vary even between units within one city. This study aimed to determine optimal ROP screening criteria, and its workload implications, for Tygerberg Children's Hospital (TCH), South Africa. Methods This cross-sectional study included premature infants screened for ROP, at TCH (1 January 2009 to 31 December 2014). Logistic regression for prediction and classification were performed. Predictors were birth weight (BW) and gestational age (GA). Endpoints were clinically significant ROP (CSROP) and Type 1 ROP (T1ROP)

Survival, virological and immunological outcomes of HIV-infected children accessing ART at South African primary health care clinics

Includes bibliographical references.South Africa faces the world’s largest pediatric HIV epidemic. Combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the only effective treatment for HIV virus suppression. Pediatric HIV care has traditionally been provided in academic research and tertiary care facilities, however efforts to improve ART availability for children are ongoing through decentralization. Tygerberg Hospital physicians with training in pediatric HIV management are providing care in seven community-based primary health care (PHC) clinics in the greater Cape Town region. ART initiation and ongoing ART management for those down-referred from tertiary and district level facilities are provided. The HIV-related outcomes of this cohort have yet to be reported

Mistrial or Misdiagnosis: The Importance of Autopsy and Histopathological Examination in Cases of Sudden Infant Bronchiolitis-Related Death

Pediatrics, among all the branches of medicine, is a sector not particularly affected by a high number of claims. Nevertheless, the economic value of the compensation is significantly high, for example, in cases of children who suffered multiple disabilities following perinatal lesions with a long life expectancy. In Italy, most of the claims for compensation concern surgical pathologies and infections. Among these latter, the dominant role is taken by respiratory tract infections. In this context, the purpose of this manuscript is to present a case series of infant deaths in different emergency-related facilities (ambulances, emergency rooms) denounced by relatives. Following these complaints, the autopsy was performed, and subsequent histological examinations revealed the presence of typical and pathognomonic histological findings of acute viral bronchiolitis, whose morphological appearance is poorly reported in the literature. The analysis of these cases made it possible to highlight the following conclusions: the main problems in diagnosing sudden death causes, especially in childhood, are the rapidity of death and the scarce correlation between the preexistent diseases and of the cause of death itself. For all these reasons, the autopsy, either clinical or medicolegal, is mandatory in cases of sudden unexpected infant death to manage claim requests because only the histological examinations performed on samples collected during the autopsy can reveal the real cause of death

The use of data in resource limited settings to improve quality of care

Quality improvement is driven by benchmarking between and within institutions over time and the collaborative improvement efforts that stem from these comparisons. Benchmarking requires systematic collection and use of standardized data. Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) have great potential for improvements in newborn outcomes but serious obstacles to data collection, analysis, and implementation of robust improvement methodologies exist. We review the importance of data collection, internationally recommended neonatal metrics, selected methods of data collection, and reporting. The transformation from data collection to data use is illustrated by several select data system examples from LMIC. Key features include aims and measures important to neonatal team members, co-development with local providers, immediate access to data for review, and multidisciplinary team involvement. The future of neonatal care, use of data, and the trajectory to reach global neonatal improvement targets in resource-limited settings will be dependent on initiatives led by LMIC clinicians and experts