In 2012, there were a total of 3,952,841 births in the United States and of these, 55,758 were born in the state of Kentucky (Martin et al., 2013). Hardin County, Kentucky is the home of about 107,025 people (Kentucky Health Facts, 2008). The main cities that make up Hardin County include Elizabethtown, Radcliff, and Fort Knox. Hardin County is considered a rural community. The majority of all births in Hardin County occur in a hospital or at home. The community of Hardin County Kentucky extends residents the choice of a hospital delivery or a home delivery. Currently there are no free standing birthing centers in this community. There are a total of 10 medical doctors that specialize in obstetrics (Kentucky Health Facts, 2008), approximately 5 certified nurse-midwives, and no certified midwives. There is a small population of lay midwives that practice mainly in Amish communities of which statistical data was not available. Residents of Hardin County have a choice in the type of provider they seek for medical care during pregnancy. According to the American College of Nurse-Midwifes (ACNM), certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) have been practicing in Kentucky for 70 years. The organization also reports a total of 48 nurse-midwifery practice sites in Kentucky and that CNMs delivered a total of 2,838 births equaling 4.8% of all births in Kentucky in 2007 (http://midwife.org/index.asp?bid=59&cat=11&button=Search&rec=190). In 2012, “98.6% of all U.S. births occurred in hospitals” (Martin et al., 2013, p. 10). Of the 1.4% of births that occurred outside of hospitals, 65.6% were home births: the home birth rate is currently the highest since reporting began in 1989 (Martin et al., 2013). While 85.8% of hospital deliveries oc... ... middle of paper ... ...from http://www.kentuckyhealthfacts.org/data/location/show.aspx?cat=1%2c2%2c3%2c5%2c8%2c11&loc=47# Martin, J. A., Hamilton, B. E., Osterman, M. J., Curtin, S. C., Mathews, T. J., & Division of Vital Statistics (2013). Births: Final Data for 2012 (National Vital Statistics Reports 62(9)). Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_09.pdf Mathews, T. J., MacDorman, M. S., MacDorman, M. F., & Division of Vital Statistics (2013). Infant mortality statistics from the 2010 period linked birth/infant death data set [National Vital Statistics Reports 62(8)]. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_8.pdf Premature births can be prevented. (2007). Retrieved from http://chfs.ky.gov/news/Prematurity.htm U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Healthy People 2020. Office of Disease Prevention and Helath Promotion. Washington, DC.
Strategies were in place to eliminate the "Granny Midwife problem." Although this historical account took place in Georgia, this story is told throughout all of the southern states. And this is what bridges the similarity of the Anglo-American midwife and the African-American midwife 's history. When the first granny midwives volunteered their names in for a license, little did they know there was a plan in store for the discontinuation of their midwifery practice? Like the white midwives in the north, she thought that becoming licensed would legalize and legitimize her lifelong work. She was told that taking classes in midwifery would give her more prestige and status. Whereby, encouraging midwives to enlist their names was a deceiving method of the State Department of Health to track who was practicing and where so they could be closely monitored and eventually retired. This encouraged more (young) women to apply for licenses (between the ages of 25-45). Some were not given a license either because of age, lack of practice, or failure to submit recommendations from two doctors. However, midwives in the most rural areas where there was no threat of competition were allowed to continue their practice without licensure. Of course, these areas were populated by predominantly blacks. Courses were being taught in the county clinic for midwives with the intentions of
Infant mortality is considered a worldwide indicator of a nation’s health status. The United States still ranks 24th in infant mortality compared with other industrialized nations, even though infant mortality has declined steadily over the past several decades. Compared with the national average in 1996 of 7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, the largest disparity is among blacks with a death rate of 14.2 per 1,000 in 1996 which is almost 2½ times that of white infants (6 deaths per 1,000 in 1996). American Indians as a whole have an infant death rate of 9 deaths per 1,000 in 1995, but some Indian communities have an infant mortality rate almost twice that of the national rate. The same applies to the Hispanic community, whose rate of 7.6 deaths per 1,000 births in 1995 doesn’t reflect the Puerto Rican community, whose rate was 8.9 deaths per 1,000 births in 1995.
United States Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). United States Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved September 19, 2011, from http://www.hhs.gov
Healthy People 2020. (2013, 11 13). Global Health . Retrieved 4 22, 2014, from Healthy People 2020: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=16
In 1998 NCANDS (National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System) calculated the Fatalities by Maltreatment, Child Abuse...
US Department of Health and Social Services, Healthy People 2010, 2nd Ed., US Gov. Printing Office, 2000.
The health of the American people lags behind those from other developed countries. Federal public health agencies have a wide range of responsibilities and functions which includes public health research, funding, and oversight of direct healthcare providers. It has been a long time since changes have been made to the way the federal government structures its health care roles and programs outside of Medicare and Medicaid (Trust, 2013). With healthcare reform on the horizon now is the time to invest time and money in prevention, not medicine, making it a top priority to improve health and prevent disease. Funding efforts at all levels of the public health continuum need to focus on developing programs aimed at such leading initiatives as tobacco cessation, improving nutrition, supplying safe workplaces, and increasing physical activity in all ages of the population. People should have equal access to quality preventative medicine and education.
“Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans.” ( United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Healthy People 2020 , 2011). It acts as a national guide for disease prevention and health promotion. There are various objectives and goals which serve as the guideline to achieve overall improvement in health . ‘Educational and Community-Based Programs’ is one of them. According to U.S Department of Health and Human Services the main goal of these programs is to “Increase the quality, availability, and effectiveness of educational and community-based programs designed to prevent disease and injury, improve health, and enhance quality of life.” (HHS, Healthy People 2020, 2011). This particular goal of Healthy People 2020 focuses on increasing the number educational and community based programs to increase awareness about disease prevention and health among every individual of the society. It focuses on educating them on various topics including chronic diseases, substance abuse, prevention of injury and violence to encourage and enhance health. It emphasizes on increasing the quantity and quality of such programs so that a larger population could benefit from the program and gain effective knowledge to achieve a healthy life.
She decided to tackle the health problems of a small area of few roads and no physicians, called Leslie County in Eastern Kentucky. Here she tested to her health care plans, thinking that if she succeed here, she could succeed anywhere. Horse backing around Leslie County, she asked residents about health care needs and local lay-midwives about birth practices. The results from her surveys revealed that these nursing mothers were lacking prenatal care and that they were giving birth to large quantities of children often by invasive practice.
Every day, 370,000 babies are born into this world- each having the potential to live a prosperous and productive life. Unfortunately, some of these tiny, fragile humans do not live until their first birthday. The death of infants within the first year of life is known as infant mortality. There are many contributing factors as to why infant mortality may be high or low in a specific area. In order to measure the amount of deaths that occur in a particular region, the number of newborns that die before the age of one year old per 1,000 live births are recorded and is known as the infant mortality rate in that society. Generally, the infant mortality rate of a country directly reflects on the health-care system provided. Unfortunately, in today’s world, a child dies every four seconds.
O'Connor, P. (2008, October 18). US infant mortality rate now worse than 28 other countries. Retrieved June 9, 2010, from World Socialist Web Site: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/mort-o18.shtml
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Myths and Facts. n.d. Web. 16 November 2013.
I remember something that Ana said during our interview: “My biggest influences are my repeat moms. They encourage me and love me as a good friend, and I know they will support me and have my back no matter what.” It strikes me that the relationship Ana develops with her clients is genuine and long-lasting. From the first meeting to the day your baby is born, Ana is with you every step of your pregnancy, which lies in stark contrast to the revolving door of doctors, nurse practitioners and residents you might encounter during a medically managed pregnancy and childbirth. The service that Ana provides to this community is selfless and driven by a passion for helping women. My hope is that midwifery will be recognized in Kentucky as the untapped resource that it is, and that hidden treasures such as Ana will have their chance to shine.
Healthy People 2020 is a program for the promotion of health and the prevention of diseases, launched by the Department of Health and Human Services in December 2010. According to healthypeople.gov, this program has four overarching goals which are first to achieve healthy, longer lives free of preventable diseases, injuries, and premature deaths; to achieve health fairness, eliminate differences, and improve all groups’ health; also to produce social and physical environments that encourage good health; and last but not least to promote life’s quality, healthy development, and healthy behaviors through all life stages. This program has a vision of a community where people live long, healthy lives. Healthy People 2020 offers a comprehensive
"National Child Abuse Statistics | Childhelp." Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse | Childhelp. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2014.