Tagged With "prevent child abuse"
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New psychology study finds adverse childhood experiences transfer from one generation to the next [UCalgary.ca]
Women who suffer four or more adverse childhood experiences before the age of 18 are more likely to face pregnancy and postpartum problems, which they may in turn pass on to their children in a “cascade of risk,” according to a new study in The Journal of Pediatrics. The study, led by the University of Calgary’s Sheri Madigan — Canada Research Chair in the Determinants of Child Development, a member of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute and an assistant professor in...
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Nominate a Trauma-Informed Care Champion: #TICchampion
Becoming a trauma-informed organization requires clear communication about the transformation process, and support from staff at all levels of an organization. Often these efforts are spearheaded by “trauma-informed care champions”— individuals committed to raising awareness regarding the health effects of trauma and toxic stress and improving care for people who have experienced trauma. This week, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) invites you to recognize people around you who...
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Nothing About Them Would Stand Out in a Crowd
photo credit: chuttersnap/unsplash.com By Alice M. Kenny (pseudonym) (The article below is an excerpt from my new book, Crazy Was All I Ever Knew: The Impact of Maternal Mental Illness on Kids . I have used a pseudonym to protect the privacy of family members.) The emotions adult children of parents with mental illness experience are a mixed bag. Sometimes a jumble. Guilt, loss, grief, and resentment are among the emotions that persist or bubble to the surface in adulthood. Some feel...
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NPPC shares lessons learned and results from ACEs screening pilot sites
For Dr. Mercie Digangi, a pediatrician at Kaiser Southern California in Downey, CA, ACEs screening provided a crystal clear before-and-after in how she changed treatment plans for her pediatric patients, she explained to attendees of a December 2 webinar organized by the National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs (NPPC) and cosponsored by ACEs Connection. Dr. Mercie Digangi One case that turned ACEs screening into a never-go-back moment for her was a three-year-old who was speech-delayed.
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Nurturing Children During Times of Stress: A Guide to Help Children Bloom by Yolo CAPC and YCCA
The Yolo County Child Abuse Prevention Council (CAPC) and Yolo County Children’s Alliance (YCCA) are excited to share Nurturing Children During Times of Stress: A Guide to Help Children Bloom. This guide for parents and caregivers, which we are launching during Child Abuse Prevention Month, contains tips and resources that parents and caregivers can use to promote resilience in their children and themselves. Nurturing Children During Times of Stress explains the effects of intense stress or...
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One way Childhood Trauma Leads to Poorer Health for Women [news.osu.edu]
By Jeff Grabmeier, Ohio State News, September 17, 2019 Researchers have long known that childhood trauma is linked to poorer health for women at midlife. A new study shows one important reason why. The national study of more than 3,000 women is the first to find that those who experienced childhood trauma were more likely than others to have their first child both earlier in life and outside of marriage – and that those factors were associated with poorer health later in life. The findings...
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Parental Depression and Its Impact on Child and Family Well-Being [CANTASD]
Parental Depression and Its Impact on Child and Family Well-Being On March 9, 2018, The National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center ( CANTASD ) hosted a Digital Dialogue with Jessica Dym Bartlett, the Deputy Program Area Director for Early Childhood Development & Child Welfare at Child Trends . The conversation focused on the impact of parental depression on child and family well-being . This [ ARTICLE ] document summarizes the conversation...
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Petaluma Health Center leads effort to link women to services
Sonoma County was one of six sites selected nationally to participate in a CityMatCH practice collaborative to prevent substance exposed pregnancies. In 2012 Rebecca Munger CNM, PHN the Sonoma County Maternal, Child, Adolescent Health Coordinator lead a broad coalition of reproductive health champions who worked across sectors and settings to develop a trio of strategies to reduce substance exposed pregnancies. The first strategy developed with CDC and WHO technical support was a bundled...
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Please stop saying parenting is hard for everyone & read Parenting with PTSD instead
Sometimes, we feel anxious, intrusive, or afraid when changing or bathing or own babies. Sometimes, we feel sick to our stomachs and worried while potty training, nurturing, or disciplining our toddlers. Sometimes, we feel shame-filled and ill-equipped when talking about puberty, body parts, or sexuality because of how and where we were compromised by caregivers as children as in our bodies, homes, and families. P arenting is brutally hard for some. If affection, attention and intimacy have...
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Postpartum Anxiety Is an Epidemic Among American Mothers. Why Does It So Often Go Undiagnosed? (Time Magazine)
By Sarah Menkedick, March 20, 2020, for Time As a new mother, I worried about mouse poop in the small cabin where I lived. About fracking chemicals in the water. About glyphosate in the oatmeal. About flame retardants in pajamas. About phthalates in toys. Although it constantly overwhelmed me, I thought my anxiety was normal, even necessary. After all, it was my job to protect my child. When I mentioned my fear at my six-week follow-up appointment after birth—the sole instance of medical...
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Postpartum Depression: Why The Word ‘Should’ Is So Dangerous [HuffingtonPost.com]
You should be happy. You should be thinner. You should always be filled with joy. You should be breastfeeding. You should be equally attentive to your other children. You should be socializing. You should be stronger. You should be more resilient. You should be more than what you are. Sound familiar? We live in a society that tells women how they should feel, think and look as mothers, even in early motherhood. Such repeated messages are easily internalized and, inevitably, they lead to...
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Preventable trauma in childhood costs north America and Europe US$ 1.3 trillion a year [WHO]
By World Health Organization (photo by WHO/Malin Bring) The findings of a new study on the life-course health consequences and associated annual costs of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) show that preventable trauma in childhood costs north America and the European Region US$ 1.3 trillion a year. The article, published in the Lancet and co-authored by Dinesh Sethi and Jonathon Passmore, Programme Manager, Violence and Injury Prevention, WHO/Europe, looks at the legacy of ACEs and their...
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Prevention: Bringing Baby Home Training of Facilitators
A friend of mine recently referred her grandchild and his pregnant wife to a Bringing Baby Home class, because she noticed that the wife had a horrible background of abuse and at times had difficulty functioning. What the grandmother noticed with this couple was a change in the family dynamics. the couple knows how to get along, the father is engaged in parenting, and the baby thriving. This is really starting at the root of the problem. 20 years ago, Drs. John and Julie Gottman worked with...
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When Parents Fear "It's All My Fault"
Many of my colleagues in the field of early childhood mental health work with what are termed "high risk" populations. Children of drug addicted parents, victims of child abuse, and families in abject poverty. While the challenges these families face are daunting, I find myself feeling some envy for my colleagues whose clients are in such obvious distress that the need for intensive treatment of parent and infant is not in question. In my rural, small-town population things are not so clear.
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Where You're Born Even Within a Country Still Matters [npr.org]
By Pien Huang, National Public Radio, October 22, 2019 Better vaccines, nutrition and disease control have cut the global death rate for children in half over the past 20 years. But even within countries that have made major progress, children can face greatly different fates. "Where you're born substantially impacts your probability of surviving to 5," says Simon Hay, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington who is the lead author of a new study on childhood mortality in Nature.
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Why I'm Passionate About ACEs Awareness
When I was 42, I landed on my butt so hard I couldn’t imagine how it had happened. I found out that the beliefs and relationships I had built my life on and around were all lies, and my world and worldview came crashing down around me. From that place of desolation, at what was rock bottom for me, I had to figure out what was true and not true, what was right and wrong for me, who I was – not who I had become to be acceptable to others. I needed to figure out who was with me and to what...
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Why reducing a pregnant woman’s toxic stress can improve the health of her unborn child
PBS NEWSHOUR: Researchers are trying to better understand the biology of stress and its impact on child health. Now, data suggests those connections may form as early as the womb, with studies indicating frequent and prolonged adversity for pregnant women can affect the development of their babies. Stephanie Sy reports on a program aimed at easing the stress and struggles of mothers and their unborn children. ...
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Why Reducing Toxic Stress can Improve the Health of an Unborn Child [pbs.org]
By Stephanie Sy, Public Broadcasting System, December 17, 2020 Researchers are trying to better understand the biology of stress and its impact on child health. Now, data suggests those connections may form as early as the womb, with studies indicating frequent and prolonged adversity for pregnant women can affect the development of their babies. Stephanie Sy reports on a program aimed at easing the stress and struggles of mothers and their unborn children. [ Please click here to read the...
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Why therapy during pregnancy should be required [WashingtonPost.com]
People frequently consider going to therapy before they make a major life transition, such as getting married or changing careers. But what about when embarking on a monumental shift such as parenthood? Women, who are advised to exercise and watch what they eat while they are pregnant, don’t always think of psychotherapy as an important part of their prenatal care regimen, but it can be critical to the well-being of mother and baby, both during and after pregnancy. For many people, pregnancy...
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Why We Suck (at Self-Soothing & Self-Care): Dr. Dawn O'Malley
Without yoga and coffee, I'm kind of a jerk. These are my personal "puppy uppers and doggie downers" and prevent me from being cranky, quick to cry, and ready for conflict. Coffee and calming make life more manageable. Humans even seem tolerable. Without them I might veer into hating humans for being so needy which is not a great trait for a parent, partner or a professional. Or a self. My partner says coffee and exercise are acts of kindness, service as promote public safety. In other...
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World Premiere: Stress & Resilience: How Toxic Stress Affects Us, and What We Can Do About It [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, November 13, 2019 When the stress in your life just doesn’t let up, and it feels like you have no support to get through the day—let alone do everything you need to do to be the best parent you can be—it can seem like there’s nothing that can make it better. But there are resources that can help, and this kind of stress—known as “toxic stress”—doesn’t have to define your life. In this video, learn more about what toxic stress is, how it...
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New D'Achille center at West Penn wraps services around new moms struggling with depression [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
A variety of services for women with pregnancy-related depression is now available in a new facility at West Penn Hospital, the dream of a McCandless man who lost his wife to the condition and those he inspired who want individualized care available to every woman. West Penn patient Tishla Jones of Lincoln Place said she found herself feeling overwhelmed and distancing herself from others, including her older children, after the birth of her fourth child, now 10 months. She was referred by...
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Yoga Transformed Me After Trauma and Sexual Assault [yogajournal.com]
Laura's note: This story of sheer determination of transformation of self and community in the face of personal trauma AND systemic racism is breathtaking. Be warned: it may blow you away, as it did me. As a child, Ebony Smith survived sexual assault but didn’t have the tools to cope with the trauma until years later, when she found yoga. Now, she’s bringing the practice to her community, and others in crisis. Exactly 247 people came to practice yoga with me today. Why is that such a big...
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Yolo Crisis Nursery: The power of partnership [davisenterprise.com]
Sara is a young, pregnant, single mom who didn’t know where to start. There were so many wolves at the door and she had no clue as to which one to take on first, or even if any of them could be driven away. Her toddler son had just been removed from another child-care center due to behavioral challenges. Without child care, Sara was on the brink of losing her job, which meant the family would be evicted from their apartment and forced to live on the streets. It seemed she had nowhere to...
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Beyond Mom: Postpartum depression can impact a partner’s well-being, too [WashingtonPost.com]
Like any expecting couple, Brett Pipitone and his wife, Laura, knew that having a child would upend their daily routine. But no research or planning prepared them for their biggest challenge: postpartum depression. “It was an incredibly stressful situation,” Brett said. After giving birth to their daughter in 2014, Laura found herself “wanting to disappear” and completely disengaged from her surroundings. She’d call Brett at work in tears, and he’d rush home to help. He wound up taking much...
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Beyond the ACE score: Examining relationships between timing of developmental adversity, relational health and developmental outcomes in children (www.sciencedirect.com)
Highlights excerpted on Science Direct about a new study by Erin P.Hambrick, Thomas W.Brawner, BruceD. Perry, KristieBrandt, Christine Hofmeister, and Jen O.Collins published in the Archives of Psychiatric Nursing. Link to Science Direct about a new study by Erin P.Hambrick, Thomas W.Brawner, BruceD. Perry, KristieBrandt, Christine Hofmeister, and Jen O.Collins published in the Archives of Psychiatric Nursing.
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Beyond The Preventing Maternal Deaths Act: Implementation And Further Policy Change [Health Affairs]
By Katy B. Kozhimannil, Elaine Hernandez, Dara D. Mendez, Theresa Chapple-McGruder. Feb 4, 2019, Health Affairs Maternal mortality is a death that occurs during pregnancy or within one year postpartum from “a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy.” In the United States, maternal mortality is a clinical, public health, and social crisis. Between 1990 and 2013, maternal mortality...
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Black Mothers and Our COVID-19 Legacy (Medium)
By Kendra F Montgomery Block, April 21, 2020 I have an urgent appeal from one Black mother to other Black mothers. Here are four things we can do to come out of this pandemic stronger — gleaned from my experience with the Black Child Legacy Campaign . The United States is a hard place to live if you are Black. Period. You can be old or young and Black; male, female or nonbinary and Black; poor or rich and Black. Our common Blackness subjects us to racial bias that negatively impacts our...
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California unveils ACEs Aware initiative to screen for trauma
Will screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in California be mandatory? No, but it’s recommended. Will there be training for physicians and staff on how to screen? Yes. Who will be reimbursed for screening patients in California? Physicians who serve patients in the state’s Medi-Cal program — for now. For more answers to these and other questions that surfaced during a Dec. 4 webinar introducing Californians to a new statewide initiative, read on. Come January 1, California will...
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Call for Abstracts for NCHDV 2020 conference
The National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence (NCHDV) seeks submissions that highlight research reports, practice innovations, advocacy initiatives, educational advances, and/or community programs that address one or more aspects related to domestic/sexual violence, other forms of violence, and health. The Call for Abstracts (CFA) invites leaders working in the fields of health and domestic/sexual violence to present their work at the 2020 Conference. Submission Deadline: Monday,...
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Can Trained, Paid Peer Support Help New York City Keep Foster Parents? [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
By Megan Conn, The Chronicle of Social Change, December 2, 2019 When Roxanne Williams became a foster parent four years ago, she started in the deep end of the parenting pool. New York City child welfare workers brought her a boy with limited English on a Friday afternoon and left after confirming her home was safe, leaving Williams to muddle through their first days together on her own. “It was rough – you weren’t getting the calls back [from her foster care agency] as fast as you wanted...
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Child and Maternal Health in Rural Areas Lags the Nation, Highlighting Barriers to Access [PEW]
By Stacey Millett, February 25, 2020, for PEW Trusts Cross-sector solutions needed to address complex challenges One in five Americans lives in a rural area, including about 18 million women of reproductive age, but key indicators, including mortality figures, show that the health of mothers and children in these communities lags behind that of their urban peers and is worsening. Nationwide, child mortality rates have declined over the past decade, but recent research shows that improvement...
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Child Law Penalizes Moms for Abusive Partners [capitalandmain.com]
By Angelika Albaladejo, Capital & Main, October 16, 2019 Ingrid Archie thought she was doing everything right to protect her children. She got a restraining order against her abusive partner and moved into a domestic violence shelter with her kids. Then Archie got arrested for child endangerment. It had been only a month since she’d left the relationship and she was struggling to get back on her feet. She was stressed out and trying to run errands with her two youngest daughters. One of...
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Childbirth Can be Another Source of Trauma for Women Who Were Abused [irishtimes.com]
By Arlene Harris, The Irish Times, February 7, 2020 While it may be an innate and mainly joyful event, many pregnant women feel anxious at the thought of going through labour and can suffer emotional and physical distress during the delivery itself. And there is one group of women for whom there is an extra level of trauma associated with the arrival of their unborn child – those who have been victims of sexual assault. Hazel Larkin is a sexual abuse survivor and over the coming months will...
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Children 'failed in first 1,000 days', says MPs [BBC News]
The Health and Social Care Committee said the first 1,000 days were critical, but not enough was done. It warned cuts to children's centres, health visiting and services to support parents had left families vulnerable. Nearly a third of children are not "school ready" by the time they reach five, because they have not developed the necessary skills and behaviours. The cross-party group wants the government to pay for extra contact with health visitors beyond the age of two-and-a-half. The...
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Civil Unrest in the Context of Chronic Community Violence: Impact on Maternal Depressive Symptoms [AJPH.AphaPublications.org]
Objectives. To examine changes in maternal–child health surrounding the April 2015 civil unrest in Baltimore, Maryland, following Freddie Gray’s death while in police custody. Methods. We conducted cross-sectional Children’s HealthWatch surveys January 2014 through December 2015 in pediatric emergency departments and primary care clinics on maternal–child health and June 2015 through October 2015 on daily and community routines. We used trend analysis and piecewise logistic regression to...
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CMS Issue Brief: Improving Access to Maternal Health Care in Rural Communities
In an ideal maternal health system, all women would have access to comprehensive, seamless medical care with links to behavioral, economic, and social supports. Additionally, they would be engaged with this system before, during, and after pregnancy. Across the United States, many women are not receiving care in this ideal system, and women in rural communities face unique challenges that make it harder for them to reach this ideal or any care at all in some cases. Because maternal health...
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Come Chat with Dr. Claudia M. Gold: An ACE-Informed Pediatrician
Date: July 11th Time: 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST Location: Parenting with ACEs Group , Online Flyer: Attached below. Please share. Dr. Claudia M. Gold has practiced general and behavioral pediatrics for 25 years and specializes in early childhood mental health. She is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Boston Infant-Parent Mental Health program, William James College, and the Austen Riggs Center where she is a Human Development consultant. Dr. Gold is author of the following...
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Consequences of Military Sexual Trauma for Perinatal Mental Health: How Do We Improve Care for Pregnant Veterans with a History of Sexual Trauma?
Sharing our recent editorial which includes a call for TIC in maternity care: "Nevertheless, there are ways in which VA may be able to augment the maternity care pregnant veterans receive to empower and facilitate more trauma-informed approaches to obstetric care. These include investing in programs to ensure peer support, possibly through use of mobile health technology; facilitating collaboration with maternity care providers through provision of handheld/electronic maternity records...
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Depression in pregnancy increases risk of mental health problems in children [ScienceDaily.com]
Depression in pregnancy increases the risk of behavioural and emotional problems in children, says a new review published in The Lancet Psychiatry. The authors of the review, which focused mainly on low and middle income countries, call for urgent interventions for mothers and children. Depression in pregnancy is thought to affect up to one in five women globally in the late stages of pregnancy and shortly after birth. It is characterised by low mood and feelings of hopelessness, and is...
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Dr. Gabor Maté & Full-Potential Parenting, Even When It Is Hard
Note: Allison Morris had dozens of experts in her summit series through Full-Potential Parenting. I took notes only on those by Donna Jackson Nakazawa , Gabe Maté and Sebern Fisher (coming later this month). Though the audios are no longer available, for free, they can be purchased for $100. or less (depending on the year), here. Forgive me for sounding like an advertisement, I don't know Allison personally. I am a huge fan of all parent-led resources and wish I discovered this series...
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Dr. Melissa Merrick Explains CDC's Vital Signs/ACEs Report [Prevent Child Abuse America]
Dr. Melissa Merrick, president & CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, provides four key takeaways from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest Vital Signs/ACEs report , of which she is the lead author. Merrick also identifies several practical solutions for creating the conditions for safe, stable and nurturing relationships and environments for all children, families and communities, which are fundamental to preventing ACEs. Among these solutions is strengthening economic...
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Dr. Melissa Merrick Explains CDC's Vital Signs/ACEs Report [Prevent Child Abuse America]
Dr. Melissa Merrick, president & CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, provides four key takeaways from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest Vital Signs/ACEs report , of which she is the lead author. Merrick also identifies several practical solutions for creating the conditions for safe, stable and nurturing relationships and environments for all children, families and communities, which are fundamental to preventing ACEs. Among these solutions is strengthening economic...
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Effects of Preterm Birth
A baby born prematurely often spends that crucial time for attachment and development of neural pathways in the NICU
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Efforts to Reduce Black Maternal Mortality Complicated by COVID-19 [chcf.org]
By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, April 20, 2020 Latoyha Young had a birth plan. She was going to have the baby in Sacramento with community doula Joy Dean by her side. Dean was funded by the county’s Black Child Legacy Campaign , which works to reduce the disproportional number of Black infant and child deaths in Sacramento. But in mid-March, when Young went into labor just as Governor Gavin Newsom ordered Californians to stay at home to avoid spreading the novel...
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Exploring State-Level Strategies to Improve Maternal Health and Birth Outcomes [nichq.org]
This initiative will develop four case studies on the successes and barriers of individual state efforts to address preterm births. This work is part of a larger initiative to gain insights and perspective on how maternal health and well-being can help support optimum child health outcomes. Who: The case studies will be developed in partnership with four states that participated with NICHQ on the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Reduce Infant Mortality (Infant Mortality...
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Facing Postpartum Depression: The Honesty, Courage and Support It Takes to Seek Help for PPD
“Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able” – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the Yellow Wallpaper, 1892 It is wonderful to see the birth of a child greeted with warm enthusiasm and support. We celebrate the joy of a growing family, and the excitement of a new life. Relatives and friends often provide gifts and extra help. But for some new moms, motherhood brings on many complex emotions besides the happy ones. While we may greet a new baby with happiness and delight –...
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Family First Scholarships for 21st Annual Families and Fathers Conference
21st Annual Families and Fathers National Conference February 24-27, 2020 Hilton Los Angeles Airport 5711 West Century Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90045 I am honored to announce The Family First Scholarship supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation as a Title Sponsor and State of California First 5 as a Co-Sponsor for the 21 st Annual Families and Fathers Conference, Next Level 2020! the terms "putting family first" and "it takes a village to raise a child" parallels with why we have...
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Family-Friendly Legislation Package Introduced [CWA Flash E Newsletter]
Senator Tammy Duckworth has introduced a package of bills to make workplaces more family-friendly, improve childcare services, make it easier for low-income and middle-class families to obtain diapers for their children and close loopholes that prevent many educational support staff from being able to take medical leave through the Family Medical Leave Act . The package includes four pieces of legislation: the End Diaper Need Act , the ESP Family Leave Act , the Honoring Family-Friendly...
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Fathers & ACEs with Trauma Dad & Father's Uplift CEO: Tuesday, September 12th
What supports exist to "uplift" fathers who have survived abandonment, abuse or torture as children? Where can men go to discuss the joys, struggles and issues of being a father with ACEs? Where are the men who face hard, heavy and complicated realities to make life easier and lighter for all who come after? We found two of them and they will be the featured guests in the next Parenting with ACEs chat . Meet Charles Clayton Daniels, Jr. of Father's Uplift and "Trauma Dad" Byron Hamel. Both...