AMCHP working on your behalf.
- On Nov. 17-18, AMCHP staff Lori Freeman and Erin Bonzon participated in the
March of Dimes Prematurity Prevention Conference 2015 in Crystal City, Virginia. The conference theme was quality improvement, evidence and practice. A primary focus of the conference was describing the roadmap devised to lower the U.S. preterm birth rate from its current 9.6 percent to 5.5 percent by 2030. The interventions of focus include birth spacing and interconception care; group prenatal care; elimination of non-medically indicated early elective deliveries; smoking cessation; access to progesterone shots for women with a previous preterm birth; low-dose aspirin to prevent preeclampsia; vaginal progesterone and cerclage for short cervix; and reduce multiple births conceived through assisted reproductive technology. The March of Dimes proposes to activate the roadmap in 16 high burden and high volume states and Puerto Rico beginning in 2017; and continues to focus on its Prematurity Campaign nationally and globally. During the conference, AMCHP was publicly recognized for its partnership with the March of Dimes, by Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA, former Surgeon General of the United States during the keynote luncheon. AMCHP, along with eight other national partners, comprise the March of Dimes Prematurity Partners. AMCHP also serves on the planning committee for the Prematurity Prevention Conference.