Pulse is AMCHP’s bi-monthly online magazine. Each issue focuses on a different topic and is shared with the entire AMCHP family, including members, partners, and others interested in MCH issues. Never miss our updates! Sign up for our newsletters to receive the latest in maternal and child health news and AMCHP publications straight to your inbox. Subscribe now
Quarantine Exposure 2020
Ayanna T. Eggleston Parent Consultant Family Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs - Lansing, Michigan In March, Michigan quarantined. We all went into our homes to sit down and await further instructions on what life would be for...
My Thoughts on Racism as a Public Health Issue
Dr. Sheree Keitt Dr. Sheree Keitt - Senior Program Manager, National Healthy Start Association shares the importance of a father's involvement in family life, the repercussions of absent fathers, and the effort to include fathers in MCH. Dr. Keitt further discusses a...
Healthy Housing and Racial Equity
Ruth Ann Norton, President and Chief Executive Officer with Green and Healthy Homes shares her perspective and knowledge through video testimony.
Dismantling Racism in Public Health: Reconsidering the Role of Evidence
Audrey Loper, W. Oscar Fleming In response to the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, García and Sharif (2015) wrote that “these preventable deaths were only two recent examples of the stark racial injustices that have plagued our country’s history.”[1] Sadly yet...
Community-Based Doula Program is Using Storybook Narratives as an Educational Tool and Call to Action
By Jeretha McKinley, Interim Executive Director, HealthConnect One® As COVID-19 strains our health care infrastructure, pregnant women face severe isolation when family and community support is critical in birth outcomes. HealthConnect One worked with our network of...
Use the Good Hand Cream
I have a good relationship with my mom. I look to her for advice, we laugh, and have many shared jokes, even though she sometimes drives me a little nuts. Lately, I’ve been pondering a piece of advice she’s imparted to me throughout my life, which is to “use the good...
The Early Childhood Connector
The Early Childhood Connector: A Virtual Solution for Supporting the Early Childhood Field through COVID-19 Colleen Murphy, Vice President, Early Childhood Connector The Ounce of Prevention Fund As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our health care...
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Bright Futures National Center Have Galvanized Efforts to Provide Responsive Communication Strategies and Resources
Lauren Geary, M.P.H., American Academy of Pediatrics Kathy Janies, American Academy of Pediatrics Jane Bassewitz, M.A., American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is striving to provide vital support to pediatric health care professionals,...
Learning from Past Responses to Disasters and Epidemics to Respond in the Present
Deborah Klein Walker, EdD Adjunct Professor at Boston University School of Public Health and Tufts University School of Medicine Former President AMCHP, President APHA, and Title V Director in Massachusetts Department of Public Health Over the past three decades,...
COVID-19 and Health Care Transformation
Atyya Chaudhry Senior Program Manager Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. uninsured rate was approximately 8.5 percent or about 27.5 million people. Since the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a national emergency on March 13, 2020,[1] an estimated 12.7 million...
You Are In Control
Paige Bussanich, M.S. AMCHP Senior Program Manager, Children & Youth with Special Health Care Needs Author’s note: I believe that we all can become empowered when we are able to share our personal stories. When our staff decided to expand beyond the usual bounds...
Let’s Find the “Magic in the Match”
Aurélie Brown Parent to Parent USA If you are reading PULSE, there is no question that we have a common goal. That goal, broadly, is to "improve the health of women, children, youth, and families, including those with special health care needs." It is a lofty goal...
Counting Kids in the 2020 Census: A Challenge and An Opportunity
Jessica Cohen Program Analyst, Health Systems Transformation AMCHP A fair and accurate 2020 Census is essential for ensuring that the government can allocate appropriate federal funding for programs and services that support maternal and child health. In 2010, more...
Complementary Maternal and Child Health Funding Streams
Title V Block Grant and the Maternal and Child Environmental Health Network Alfred N. Romeo, R.N., Ph.D. MotherToBaby Utah Utah Department of Health Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grants support improved health care and public health services for...
The 10th Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act
A Decade of Gains for Maternal and Child Health Stacy Collins Associate Director, Health Systems Transformation No longer considered a high-stakes experiment, the 10-year-old Affordable Care Act (ACA) is now well established in the U.S. health care system. Few health...
