Maternal and Child Health

Maternal and child health (MCH) programs focus on health issues concerning women, children and families, such as access to appropriate prenatal and well-child care, infant mortality prevention, emergency medical services, injury prevention, newborn screening, and services to children with special health care needs.  States invest in healthy children and families and hope, in turn, to save money by averting more costly health problems and avoiding the need for related support services down the road.

Both federal and state funds contribute to MCH-related programs, such as the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant; Medicaid; the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); the Healthy Start Initiative; the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program; and the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).  States also play an important role in administering these programs. 

Recent News and Updates

• Medicaid's Role for Women Across the Lifespan: Current Issues and the Impact of the Affordable Care Act
  Kaiser Family Foundation, January 2012
• Children with Special Health Care Needs in Context: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2007
  Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, September 2011
• Understanding Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Infant Mortality Rates
  National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 2011
• Holding Steady, Looking Ahead: Annual Findings Of A 50-State Survey Of Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, And Cost Sharing Practices in Medicaid and CHIP, 2010-2011
  Kaiser Family Foundation, January 2011
• NCSL Health Reform and Women, Children and Adolescents webpage
• Summary of MCH Related Provisions in Health Reform Bill
  Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, March 22, 2010
• The Power of Prevention for Mothers and Children: The Cost Effectiveness of Maternal and Child Health Interventions
  Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, May 2009

   

  Updated January 9, 2012

This site is made possible by project, UC4MC21528, from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act),
Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.