Maternal & Child Health

The Birth Ready Designation is a system that reinforces and ensures birthing facilities are implementing best practices to improve readiness for addressing the leading causes of maternal deaths.

LA WIC has issued guidance, available at LouisianaWIC.org, for WIC participants impacted by a recall of powdered infant formula following the FDA's advisory.

Louisiana WIC participants who would like to access virtual infant feeding support through Pacify can contact their local WIC clinic or call 1-800-251-2229. All WIC participants are eligible.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted approval for Louisiana Medicaid to launch Act 421 Children's Medicaid Option, or TEFRA, effective January 1, 2022.

Families and pregnant individuals participating in the Louisiana WIC Program will continue to receive extra help with purchasing fruits and vegetables through a Continuing Resolution of the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act.

The designations recognize consistent application of practices that promote safe, equitable and dignified birth.

All 14 cases involved mothers who were unvaccinated, and resulted in 6 maternal deaths and 10 fetal deaths.

The LaPQC’s final report on Reducing Maternal Morbidity, issued today, shows that severe maternal morbidity among hemorrhage was reduced by nearly 35% and severe maternal morbidity among hypertension was reduced by almost 12%.

The Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative, made up of 31 birthing facilities from around the state, met in Lafayette earlier this month for the second learning session of the Reducing Maternal Morbidity initiative. This work is aimed at reducing severe medical complications from bleeding or severely elevated blood pressure during and after the birth process. These complications, known as maternal morbidity, are unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery that result in short- or long-term consequences to a woman's health.

The Louisiana Department of Health has received a $550,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen its congenital syphilis activities and initiatives.