Understanding the referral process in Washington across different organizations provides insights about the challenges, the referrals gaps and methods used by Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), NICU developmental follow up programs, and early intervention services to serve premature and low-birthweight infants at risk for developmental delays. Very preterm and very low birth weight children are at an increased risk of experiencing academic challenge, have a higher risk of behavioral concerns, and these delays seem to follow infants into young adulthood. Studies found that of the 94% of infants referred for services at discharge from the NICU only 44% received a therapy and of those that didn’t receive services 53% were found to have developmental delays at 2 years of age. The utilization of intervention programs like NICU developmental follow up program and early intervention resources has shown to greatly improve developmental outcomes. The purpose of the project is to provide a qualitative descriptive analysis of the referral process by NICUs and NICU developmental follow up programs. Purposeful and snowball sampling recruitment technique was used, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Five staff members from four NICU hospitals throughout Washington state participated, and thematic analysis was utilized to analyze the data. The results showed communication is an essential component though all the stages of the referral process from resources and funding to interagency/department communication for provide infants quality healthcare to communicating with families with families early and often.

The definitive manual of pediatric medicine - completely updated with 75 new chapters and e-book access.

The delivery of high quality and equitable care for both mothers and newborns is complex and requires efforts across many sectors. The United States spends more on childbirth than any other country in the world, yet outcomes are worse than other high-resource countries, and even worse for Black and Native American women. There are a variety of factors that influence childbirth, including social determinants such as income, educational levels, access to care, financing, transportation, structural racism and geographic variability in birth settings. It is important to reevaluate the United States' approach to maternal and newborn care through the lens of these factors across multiple disciplines. Birth Settings in America: Outcomes, Quality, Access, and Choice reviews and evaluates maternal and newborn care in the United States, the epidemiology of social and clinical risks in pregnancy and childbirth, birth settings research, and access to and choice of birth settings.

The increasing prevalence of preterm birth in the United States is a complex public health problem that requires multifaceted solutions. Preterm birth is a cluster of problems with a set of overlapping factors of influence. Its causes may include individual-level behavioral and psychosocial factors, sociodemographic and neighborhood characteristics, environmental exposure, medical conditions, infertility treatments, and biological factors. Many of these factors co-occur, particularly in those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged or who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups. While advances in perinatal and neonatal care have improved survival for preterm infants, those infants who do survive have a greater risk than infants born at term for developmental disabilities, health problems, and poor growth. The birth of a preterm infant can also bring considerable emotional and economic costs to families and have implications for public-sector services, such as health insurance, educational, and other social support systems. Preterm Birth assesses the problem with respect to both its causes and outcomes. This book addresses the need for research involving clinical, basic, behavioral, and social science disciplines. By defining and addressing the health and economic consequences of premature birth, this book will be of particular interest to health care professionals, public health officials, policy makers, professional associations and clinical, basic, behavioral, and social science researchers.

The evaluation of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) by the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (DCP3) focuses on maternal conditions, childhood illness, and malnutrition. Specifically, the chapters address acute illness and undernutrition in children, principally under age 5. It also covers maternal mortality, morbidity, stillbirth, and influences to pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. Volume 3 focuses on developments since the publication of DCP2 and will also include the transition to older childhood, in particular, the overlap and commonality with the child development volume. The DCP3 evaluation of these conditions produced three key findings: 1. There is significant difficulty in measuring the burden of key conditions such as unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, nonsexually transmitted infections, infertility, and violence against women. 2. Investments in the continuum of care can have significant returns for improved and equitable access, health, poverty, and health systems. 3. There is a large difference in how RMNCH conditions affect different income groups; investments in RMNCH can lessen the disparity in terms of both health and financial risk.

The Comprehensive Handbook of Pediatric Audiology, Second Edition is the most wide-ranging and complete work of its kind, and has become the definitive reference in the specialty area of pediatric audiology. Content areas range from typical auditory development, to identification and diagnostic processes, to medical and audiologic management of childhood hearing and ear disorders. An interdisciplinary assembly of sixty-six internationally recognized experts from the fields of audiology, speech-language pathology, education, pediatric medicine, otology, and hearing science have contributed to this second edition. Building from the success of the first edition, and aligning with the evolution of the profession, this edition expands and deepens its coverage of early identification of hearing loss, etiology and medical considerations, and hearing technologies, especially implantable devices and the measurement of outcomes resulting from intervention. Updates to the new edition include: New chapters on the measurement of outcomes resulting from intervention, preventable hearing loss, implementation of newborn hearing screening programs, and the future of implantable devices, among othersReorganization for improved sequencing of content areaSubstantially updated chapters The Comprehensive Handbook of Pediatric Audiology, Second Edition is intended for use in doctoral-level education programs in audiology or hearing science, as well as to serve as an in-depth reference source for practicing audiologists and other professionals, educators, scientists, and policy makers seeking current and definitive information on evidence-based pediatric audiology practice.