Welch Community Hospital No Longer Has a Baby Delivery Department

Jun 4, 2017 By CHARLES BOOTHE Bluefield Daily Telegraph WELCH — McDowell County mothers-to-be will now have to go out of county to have their babies delivered. After decades of offering the service, Welch Community Hospital no longer has a delivery department. The hospital’s long-time obstetrics physician, Dr. Julito Sultan, retired, prompting the change, said Allison Addler, with the West … Read More

Access to care remains large challenge for expectant mothers in rural areas

by Brooke Thibodaux | Thursday, February 9th, 2017 | Click for Original Story Webster Springs, WV (WCHS/WVAH) — Access to maternity care is shrinking for women in many rural counties. In Webster County, Sabrina Mcie lives off a windy gravel road. Mcie is 35 weeks along and she can’t wait to welcome her little girl, Naveah, into the world next … Read More

2016 WV Perinatal Summit Presentations & Photos

On November 14 & 15, 2016 the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership held its annual Summit at the Charleston Marriott Town Center. View the 2016 West Virginia Perinatal Summit program and presentations. View the PHOTO GALLERY There is nothing to show here! Slider with alias 2016-Summit-Images not found.

Rate of babies going through opiate withdrawal skyrockets

By Wayne Drash, CNN | Updated 7:24 AM ET, Tue December 13, 2016 | See the original CNN story Huntington, West Virginia (CNN) — The high-pitched, inconsolable screams of babies born dependent on heroin and other opiates echo across the otherwise quiet facility. The babies also shake, vomit and suffer from diarrhea. But it is their shrill screams that caretakers … Read More

Rise in Infant Drug Dependence Is Felt Most in Rural Areas

By CATHERINE SAINT LOUISDEC. 12, 2016 | Read the New York Times Story As the opioid epidemic sweeps through rural America, an ever-greater number of drug-dependent newborns are straining hospital neonatal units and draining precious medical resources. The problem has grown more quickly than realized and shows no signs of abating, researchers reported on Monday. Their study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, concludes … Read More

NAS Questions to be added to West Virginia Birth Score

Beginning October 1, 2016 information on intrauterine substance exposure and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) will be reported on the West Virginia Birth Score. This policy update was announced by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Public Health on August 26, 2016. The Birth Score Program staff have scheduled interactive demonstrations of the questions that will … Read More

We are the Key to Cancer Prevention: WV HPV Vaccination Campaign

About two thirds of West Virginia’s adolescents are not fully vaccinated against HPV and its related cancers. We can change this and protect them from a future of cancer. West Virginia HPV Vaccination Campaign West Virginia has some of the highest rates of HPV-associated cancers in the nation. Nine types of human papillomavirus (HPV) and its associated cancers are preventable … Read More

2016 WV Perinatal Summit

This event is provided by the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership. It is made possible through grants from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, Division of Health Sciences; WV Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities; WV Bureau for Public Health, Office of Maternal, Child and Family Health, the March of Dimes and through support from partners listed below. Date … Read More

Zika Virus Update

The Zika virus continues to generate concern among all people, particularly pregnant women and their practitioners. With the identification of local transmission within the continental United States, this concern has grown. The following is a brief overview of information available and links to reliable resources for patients and practitioners. Zika is a virus transmitted via the Aedes species mosquitoes, sexual … Read More

Why Finland’s Newborns Sleep in Cardboard Cribs

From the NEW YORK TIMES At a glance, it seems a strange place to put a newborn: a bit of bedding and a miniature sleeping bag arranged in a cardboard box. Even so, that’s the first place that many Finnish infants lay their little heads. And the simple setup is believed to be one reason that Finland now has one … Read More