In the near future, Texas Infant Health Alliance meetings will be held jointly with the Texas CHIP Coalition on Fridays once a month. Vist the Texas CHIP Coalition meetings page for date, time, and location.
RECENT MEETINGS:
March 2010
Topic: Policy Responses to Maternal Drug Use During Pregnancy through the Early Years of a Child's Life.
Presenters:Judy Brow, MA, MSSW, Former Executive Director of Austin Family House, retired core team leader for the National Center on Substance Abuse & Child Welfare Technical Assistance project at the Texas Department of State Health Services, and coach with the National Women's Addiction Leadership Institute
• Download Judy Brow's presentation:
Maternal Substance Use and Abuse
Chuck Roper, PhD, LCDC, Parents in Recovery Program Director, Travis County
Michelle Kimbrough, LCSW, Family Drug Treatment Coordinator, Travis County
February 2010
Topic: Preventing Preterm and Low Birthweight Births
Our panelists were:
Morgan Sanders, State Director of Public Affairs, March of Dimes
Overview and prevalence of prematurity/low birthweight, racial disparities, and prenatal care and the connection to prematurity/ low birthweight
Claudia Rodas, Regional Director of Government Relations-Gulf Coast, American Cancer Society
Smoking and the connection to prematurity/ low birthweight
Dr. Michael Nix, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Seton Family of Hospitals
Elective inductions and C-sections and the connection to prematurity/ low birthweight
See Dr. Nix's presentation
here.
January 2010
Topic: Preventing Unplanned and Teen Pregnancy
Our speakers were:
Dr. Janet Realini serves as President of Healthy Futures, a non-profit organization dedicated to prevention of teen and unplanned pregnancy in San Antonio and Texas. Healthy Futures sponsors the Healthy Futures Alliance, a community coalition that includes both "pro-life” and "pro-choice” members, and which advocates for policies to reduce teen and unplanned pregnancy. Healthy Futures also makes available at no cost BIG DECISIONS, the Texas-friendly Abstinence-Plus curriculum for teens that Dr. Realini authored. Healthy Futures also provides educational sessions for youth, parents, and young adults. See her presentation here.
Dr. Kelly Wilson, Ph.D., CHES, is an assistant professor of health education at Texas State University-San Marcos. She is currently a national board member for the American School Health Association, Eta Sigma Gamma and the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. She is a past president of the Texas School Health Association. Throughout her career working with youth and adolescents in the public schools, Dr. Wilson has been an advocate for school and adolescent health issues. She has authored seven peer-reviewed articles and numerous state organization articles. She has offered more than 40 presentations at conferences nationwide and has been invited to present at several professional development workshops. In 2009, Dr. Wilson was awarded the Martha Licata Service Award by the Texas School Health Association (TSHA). The American Association for Health Education (AAHE) recognized Dr. Wilson with the Horizon Award in 2008. In 2007 she was presented the Texas A&M University - Division of Health Education Alumnus of the Year Award. Over the last five years she has been recognized with presidential citations awarded by the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and the College of Education at Texas State University-San Marcos. She is the proud wife of James and mother of Emma Lu.
Dr. Wilson and her colleague, Dr. David Wiley, are authors of the report Just Say Don’t Know: Sexuality Education in Texas Public Schools.
November 2009
Topic: Prenatal Care
Dr. Tom Phelps, Obstetrics Medical Director, and Rebekah Haynes, Communications Director, from Lone Star Circle of Care, spoke about prenatal care through federally qualified health centers. Dr. Marcel Thompson, Chair, Austin Division’s Program Services Committee and a member of the State Program Services Committee at March of Dimes, discussed a group prenatal care program called CenteringPregnancy ™. Frances Deviney of the Center for Public Policy Priorities also led a brief exploration of the importance of accurately counting infants and families in the Census, and how our organizations can help.
October 2009
Topic: Breastfeeding
We heard from Bridget McCauley, Program Director at Mother's Milk Bank at Austin and Barbara Wilson-Clay, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (see her website) and one of the founders of Mother's Milk Bank of Austin:
September 2009
Topic: "Our Vision for the Future”
We checked in after our first six months to communicate about our vision for the Alliance. We mapped out the work of the Alliance during the legislative interim, examined content for meetings, and developed a plan to take us into the beginning of the next legislative session.We also discussed our role as partners and the common ground our organizations share in mission when it comes to infant health.
August 2009
Topic: Newborn Screening
We heard from representatives of the Texas Department of State Health Services, March of Dimes, and the Mountain States Genetics Regional Collaborative Center regarding newborn screening in Texas.
July 2009
Topic: Home Visitation Programs
We heard from representatives of Nurse Family Partnership and Parents As Teachers, two national models of home visitation programs that provide parent education during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood. We also learned how both of these models are used in direct service locally at Any Baby Can of Austin.
June 2009
Topic: Nursing Support for Premature and Fragile Infants
Aimee DeRiggi, RN, BSN, Developmental Care Nurse, Marialice Shivers, Regional Neonatal ICU, Seton Medical Center Austin, on experiencesproviding direct care to premature babies and other infants with serious health concerns to prevent developmental problems while the infants are in the neonatal unit and instructing parents about special vare for their infants at home.
May 2009
Topic: Preventing Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies
Dr. Mary Velasquez, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Center for Social Work Research and Director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT) at the University of Texas at Austin, on her research on interventions focused on preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies. June Villareal, Education Coordinator with the Texas Office for Prevention of Developmental Disabilities through the Health and Human Services Commission, on developmental challenges and special care required to meet the needs of infants with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD)
April 2009
Topic: What's Happening with Infant Health Bills in the Legislature
Alison Little and other policy staff of Texans Care for Children and its partners tracked progress on key infant health bills pending in the 81st Legislature
March 2009
Topic: Why Infant Health?
Brian C. Castrucci,Director of the Office of Program Decision Support at the Division of Family and Community Health Services with the Department of State Health Services, withan overview of the state of infant health in Texas.
