August is National Breastfeeding Month The American Academy of Pediatrics, World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF all recommend that infants be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of life. Yet, according to WHO, fewer than half are. Part of the problem, say breastfeeding advocates like Mirine Richey, a USF […]
Amanda DeWeese was pregnant with her oldest child when she began her graduate studies toward an MPH in maternal and child health at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health (USF COPH). She had just earned two undergraduate degrees in 2008 from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in health […]
August is National Breastfeeding Month The infant feeding experience can be rife with problems. There are barriers to breastfeeding, formula shortages and pervasive formula marketing that leads to brand loyalty, only exacerbating shortage problems, says Mirine Richey, a USF College of Public Health doctoral student who is seeking a DrPH […]
People addicted to opioids are sometimes prescribed medication-assisted treatment (MAT). MAT is the use of medications such as methadone, along with counseling or behavior therapy, to treat drug addiction and help people sustain recovery. But according to Dr. Katherine Drabiak, a USF College of Public Health associate professor, using MAT […]
Health professionals can agree, breastmilk is magical. Its numerous benefits—protecting against ear infections, lowering risk of diabetes, decreasing childhood obesity, improving the health of the mother postpartum, the list goes on—are all backed by the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The U.S. Surgeon General’s Call to […]
The mid-project meeting for the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative’ Mothers Own Milk (MOM) in the NICU Initiative was held in Orlando on March 14, 2017. The event was attended by more than 70 participants from all 25 participating Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The day was full of sharing of successes […]
Breast milk is medicine for babies born very low birth weight (under 1,500 grams). For these high risk infants, being fed human milk improves gastrointestinal maturity and visual development, reduces the risk of life-threatening infections such as sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis, and reduces length of stay and health care costs. […]
USF’s College of Public Health epidemiology doctoral candidate Dr. Rema Ramakrishnan is the recipient of the 2016 Student Prize Paper Award from the Society of Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research. Ramakrishnan won the award for her manuscript, “Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative: Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring […]