Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood
Why Is This Important?
Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA) is able to work with moms to provide the necessary support and care to have a safe and health pregnancy. When all the needs of the mother are addressed during pregnancy, children are born healthy and into a safe environment thereby contributing to a decrease in infant mortality rates.
What We Do
Care Management for High-Risk Pregnancies (CMHRP), previously known as Pregnancy Care Management (PCM), is a statewide Medicaid care management program promoting healthy pregnancy and birth outcomes. The program consists of nurses and social workers who provide counseling, education and linkage to community resources for families. The program also provides services and support to women experiencing high risk factors during pregnancy and up to two months postpartum.
Who We Serve
Care Management for High-Risk Pregnancies (CMHRP) provide services for women experiencing high risk pregnancies living in Cabarrus County and have Medicaid (uninsured via grants). Examples of high-risk pregnancy factors include: previous or current Gestational Diabetes, Type 1 or 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, multi gestational pregnancy (pregnant with twins, triplets, etc.), history of preterm birth or low birth weight, behavioral health concerns, homelessness, domestic violence and /or substance use.
How We Impact
Care Management for High-Risk Pregnancies (CMHRP) strives to decrease infant mortality rates, low birth weights and C-section births. This program works to promote healthy birth outcomes for pregnant women (uninsured or covered by Medicaid) by increasing access to prenatal care for high risk pregnancies, and providing community resources and support to reduce toxic stressors.
What We Do
The Care Management for At Risk Children (CMARC), previously known as Care Coordination for Children (CC4C) is a statewide early childhood care management program serving children from birth to five years of age. CMARC care managers consist of nurses and social workers who provide support, assessment and screening, early childhood education, referrals to services, and information upon resources that are needed to support the health and welling being of child.
Who We Serve
The Care Management for At Risk Children (CMARC) serves children in Cabarrus County that have special health care needs, are in foster care, discharged from the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after delivery, or are experiencing toxic stress situations from birth up to age 5
How We Impact
The Care Management for At Risk Children (CMARC) focuses on positively impacting the long-term health and wellbeing of the child by providing continued support, education, and linkage to services for families during this crucial stage in a child’s life. CMARC aims to serve children from birth to age 5 who are of the highest risk in hopes of improving and maximizing health outcomes for these children.
What We Do
Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA) provides home visits to mothers and newborns who receive Medicaid benefits as part of the Newborn Postpartum Home Visiting Program. During home visits, a registered nurse will assess mother and baby, provide education, resources and referrals to other needed services.
Who We Serve
The Newborn Postpartum Home Visiting Program provides home visits to Cabarrus County mothers and newborns who receive Medicaid benefits.
How We Impact
Through the assessment of the mother and the baby the Newborn Postpartum Home Visiting program is able to screen and asses the mother, baby, and home. Following the assessment resources can be provided for what the mother or family needs to be able to best care for the baby. Support to the mothers is a key role of this program. The home visit provides the nurse time to talk with the mother about the importance of postpartum appointments and birth control options.
What We Do
Who We Serve
How We Impact
What We Do
Who We Serve
How We Impact
What We Do
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a supplemental food and nutrition education program for pregnant and breast feeding women. This includes women who just had a baby who are not breast feeding, and infants and children up to age five.
WIC is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. It is commonly referred to as the WIC Program.
Services Offered
- Healthy foods including fruits and vegetables.
- Nutrition education to help clients make better choices about the food they eat. They also learn how nutrition and health work together.
- Peer counselors to help provide breastfeeding support. We also have a breast feeding room, breast pumps, and supplies for our clients.
- Referrals to Health Care Programs and Public Assistance Programs.
Who We Serve
WIC is available to pregant, breat feeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5. To participate, these persons must:
- Live in North Carolina
- Have a family income less than 185% of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines (to see the guidelines click here).
- A person receiving Medicaid, Work First Families Assistance (TANF), or assistance from the NC Food and Nutrition Services automatically meet the income eligibiltiy requirement
- Be at nutrional risk. Examples are:
- Abnormal anthropic or hematalogical measurements
- Documented nurition-related medical concerns
- Inadequate dietary intake
- Conditions that predispose a person to inadewuate nutritional patterns such as: lead poisoning, migrancy, alcohol or drug abuse
If you would like to see if you are eligible for WIC benefits take the WIC prescreening tool by click here.
How We Impact
-
WIC reduces infant mortality. WIC connects pregnant women to prenatal care, provides nutritious foods and encourages health-promoting behaviors. These factors are linked to positive birth outcomes (USDA, 2012).
-
WIC saves public health care dollars. Women who participate in WIC are less likely to have pre-term or low-birth weight babies, contributing to healthier babies and reduced medical costs (Institute of Medicine, 2006).
-
WIC improves children’s health. Children who participate in WIC are more likely to receive regular preventive health services and are better immunized than other low-income children who do not participate in WIC (USDA, 2012).
-
WIC improves infant feeding practices and diet quality. WIC promotes and supports breastfeeding as the optimal infant feeding choice. In addition, revisions to the WIC Food Package have resulted in increased intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy among WIC participants (USDA, 2012; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2015).
-
WIC supports cognitive development. Research shows that WIC services can mitigate the harmful effects of poor nutrition during critical periods of growth and development, leading to lifelong cognitive gains (USDA, 2012).
-
WIC enhances community food environments. Revisions to the WIC Food Package, and thus changes in the foods available at WIC-authorized stores, have increased the availability of healthy foods for all individuals living in low-income communities (USDA, 2015).
Information from: "WIC Makes a Difference" section, located at the Nutrition NC website.
Clear Impact Suite is an easy-to-use, web-based software platform that helps your staff collaborate with external stakeholders and community partners by utilizing the combination of data collection, performance reporting, and program planning.