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The Community Information Guide provides the latest news, upcoming events and local city directories.
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www.slfp.com
St. Louis Front Page
P. O. Box 1354
St. Louis, MO 63188
www.slfp.com
Voice: 314-771-0200
Fax: 314-771-0300
To submit news, contact:
editor@slfp.com
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or call 314-771-0200 for information or questions about advertising opportunities in the Community Section.
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Missouri Receives Grants to Benefit Mothers, Babies
ST. LOUIS (SLFP.com), August 24, 2008 - Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has been awarded two grants from the March of Dimes to improve the health of women and children in Missouri.
One grant will provide training for health-care providers to help women of childbearing age - especially those who are pregnant - quit smoking. The other will be used to help educate women on how folic acid can help prevent birth defects.
"The March of Dimes encourages community service, raises public awareness, and funds research and advocacy to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, pre-mature births, and infant mortality," Gov. Matt Blunt said. "These grants will enhance the efforts of my administration to help women stop smoking during pregnancy so that their children will be born healthier and they can enjoy a higher quality of life with better health."
"It is vital for women who are or could become pregnant to maintain good health," said Karen Schenk, a program coordinator for the health department's Bureau of Genetics and Healthy Childhood. "Eliminating tobacco use and taking folic acid are two of the most important things women can do to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby."
The $18,100 grant for smoking cessation efforts provides funding for training sessions offered to physicians, dentists, dental hygienists and respiratory therapists who will counsel women to stop smoking.
The training promotes the Missouri Tobacco Quitline, a free resource available to help any Missourian who wants to quit smoking. The Quitline number is 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669).
According to the state health department, 17.7 percent of women in Missouri reported smoking during pregnancy in 2007. The national average was 10.7 percent in 2005, the last year for which data is available.
"In 2003, the death certificates of 32 Missouri newborns listed the cause of death: 'mother smoked'," said Deborah Kersting, Missouri Executive Director of the March of Dimes. "That is why it is so important that we invest in Missouri programs to help women quit smoking."
The grant to educate women about the importance of folic acid will promote the use of multivitamins containing 400 micrograms of folic acid for women of childbearing age to reduce the risk of birth defects.
The project will pair senior nursing students from the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing with high school teachers and school nurses who will attend training to help them implement a curriculum in the classroom that will encourage high school students to make healthy choices into adulthood. The $24,971 grant will use an educate-the-educators model and an evidence-based curriculum.
Archived St. Louis Community Health News:
 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Brings Thousands to Downtown St. Louis for the 10th Annual Event
As Temperatures Heat Up, Cool Down St. Louis Receives Major Assistance from AmerenUE
Long Term Care Costs in Missouri Increased as Much as Three Times National Average
Washington University in St. Louis and AstraZeneca to Collaborate Alzheimer's Research
New Report Estimates 10 Million Baby Boomers Will Develop Alzheimer's Disease in the United States
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