Guest blog by Mary Ellen Cunningham, Bureau of Women's and Children's Health All new parents have experienced a version of this thought when they bring home their helpless, tiny newborn: “I have no idea what I am doing.” We also know now how terribly important those first years are for baby. The brain development in [...]
Increasing the percentage of women that choose to breastfeed is a critical evidence-based practice for addressing the childhood obesity epidemic. Here in Arizona, we have a lot to celebrate during World Breastfeeding Week- because of our collective work to increase breastfeeding is paying off. Arizona’s percentage of babies who begin breastfeeding has jumped to 83% [...]
We’re happy to unveil the new Arizona WIC Program website, which has been redesigned with a fresh new look that is more user friendly. Last year the WIC webpage had more than 76,000 unique visitors with nearly 350,000 page views- making it one of our most popular sites. The redesigned site includes a Find a [...]
Our Vital Records shop does a lot more than manage the State’s birth and death certificate system (which we’ve been doing since 1885). We’re also an integral part of the Nation’s Vital Statistics System, which serves as the backbone of national data sharing in public health. The data collected under the National Vital Statistics System works [...]
It is hard to believe we’re in the 3rd year of our successful Empower Program. As a refresher for those of you that aren’t familiar with Empower, it’s a program that focuses on increasing healthy eating and active living, along with helping to provide smoke-free environments, in licensed child care facilities… reaching over 200,000 children [...]
Last legislative session the Governor signed HB 2036- which amends state law regarding abortions. Some parts of the law are pending legal challenges, but the parts requiring us to develop a website were unaffected- and our new informed consent site just went up. The website lists agencies and services that are available to assist women throughout [...]
Some AZ health care providers and parents have asked questions about whether medical marijuana is safe for use while breastfeeding. The short answer is no, because the active chemical in marijuana is passed to the baby through breast milk. For this reason, most experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC advise moms not to use marijuana [...]
OK… everybody knows that we have all sorts of recognition weeks and months for everything from breastfeeding to mental health. Most folks don’t know that March is Purchasing Month. But let’s face it- none of us would be able to accomplish anything in this business without our Procurement team! Our Procurement shop touches every aspect [...]
Do you know someone who’s pregnant and needs help finding low-cost prenatal care? Someone looking for post-partum depression resources; help with breastfeeding; low-cost dental care; or the nearest WIC clinic? One great resource that can help is our Pregnancy & Breastfeeding Hotline. The Hotline (1-800-833-4642) is a statewide service funded by our Title V Maternal and [...]
Breastfeeding is one of the foundations of public health – it protects the health of the mother and the baby. A special week like this helps people remember the benefits and encourages folks to support mothers who want to breastfeed. CDC Vital Signs Report this week talks about reducing the change of having an overweight [...]
