The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Maternal and Infant Health (UNC CMIH) works to improve birth outcomes in North Carolina. The North Carolina Preterm Birth Prevention TeleHealth Network focused on disseminating and implementing evidence-based strategies to prevent preterm birth. The UNC CMIH and the UNC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine collaborated with Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) to accomplish these goals. This collaborative project built on infrastructure already in place through CCNC’s Pregnancy Medical Home (PMH) Program. Four primary strategies supported achieving the goals of this project.
Initiatives included:
- development and distribution of clinical guidance materials via PMH Care Pathway Packages
- providing support for cervical length measurement credentialing for sonographers
- practice-based technical assistance to address tobacco use in pregnancy
- establishment of telemedicine capability for maternal-fetal telemedicine consultation in ten rural prenatal care settings
In addition to these activities, the North Carolina Preterm Birth Prevention Symposium was held in May 2016. The goal of this symposium was to support the implementation of proven interventions to prevent preterm birth.
Funding for this project was provided in part by the Duke Endowment.