Infant Health and Development

Take a Moment to Meet our Tri-Chairs

Erica Phillips           Carole Elias                Emily Goldschmid

All our Kin              Family Centers            Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County


All Stamford infants will be healthyPlaygroup

Infant health and development shapes child health, and in turn, adolescent and adult health. Social determinants of health have a great impact on children’s health and development, and ultimately, their readiness and success both inside and outside of school. It starts before birth and is influenced by every part of the environment—the home, care environments, neighborhood and city.

Members of the Infant Health and Development CAN are a committed group of community stakeholders who are experts in the field of infant health and development. The CAN was launched in November 2016, and the Plan phase of our Continuous Improvement Process began at the first meeting in December 2016. Two action plans are in process of being developed, with goals to:

  1. Increase number of referrals to Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)/Food and Nutrition Service in the first trimester of pregnancy so that infants are healthy, develop according to developmental milestones and are ready to succeed in school.  We will work to increase access to the use of Child Development Infoline by women seeking prenatal care and begin a campaign to educate women on the importance of being healthy throughout pregnancy.
  2. Create a plan for increasing the number of completed Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) in the early childhood community to facilitate promotion of parent awareness of developmental milestones, referrals for early intervention and establish an integrated data collection system for tracking Stamford data and identifying community needs.

Go Before You Show
Go Before You Show encourages pregnant women to seek prenatal care in the first three months of their pregnancy and connects them to a prenatal care provider as early as possible in their pregnancy for more positive outcomes. The campaign also educates women on related topics, such as nutrition and finances, healthy practices including nutrition information and financial aid if necessary. Go Before You Show will be promoted through an integrated-marketing campaign and will include information about Text4Baby, a free mobile information service designed to promote maternal and child health through text messaging. Women who text BABY (or BEBE in Spanish) to 511411 will receive three free text messages a week related to prenatal care timed to their due date or baby's birthdate.

Infant Health and Development Community Action Network (CAN) Leadership/Contributors

Abilis
All Our Kin

Building One Community
Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County
City of Stamford, Health and Social Services
Community Health Center
Family Centers
The Ferguson Library
Kids in Crisis
Optimus Health Care on the Boulevard
The Pediatric Center
Saint Joseph Parenting Center

Stamford Health Department, WIC Program
Stamford Hospital, KIDS' FANS (Fitness and Nutrition Services)
Stamford Hospital, Family Practice Program
Stamford Hospital, Medical Home Initiative SW
UConn Stamford, Early Childhood Development and Education