Public health professionals analyze and develop programs that protect the health of individuals, families and communities in the United States and abroad. Using education, development of healthy lifestyles, research and program implementation, public health professionals are agents for disease prevention and health promotion.
Experts in maternal and child health focus on the complex public health problems affecting women, children and their families. Maternal and child health professionals provide information and access to sexual reproductive health services and methods of family planning, promote the health of pregnant women and their children and increase vaccination rates.
Maternal and child health specialists work to improve the health delivery system through advocacy, education and research. They accomplish this by discovering and testing solutions through applied research and by developing, implementing and/or evaluating health programs at the local, state, national and international levels.
Working Conditions
The focus on maternal and child health is a global priority for public health professionals, the United Nations announced in 2010 the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health – a task force organized to educate women across the world about reproductive health, combat infant mortality, and save more than 16 million lives by 2015. Experts in maternal and child health focus on the complex public health problems affecting women, children and their families. This interdisciplinary field seeks answers for the complex health considerations relating to women, pregnancy, reproduction, and infant and child well-being. Professionals who concentrate in maternal and child health are interested in the intersection between these populations, and how governments and communities can work together to protect and advance the health of women and children across the world. Maternal and child health professionals provide information and access to sexual reproductive health services and methods of family planning, promote the health of pregnant women and their children and increase vaccination rates.
You can learn more about current students and professionals working in Maternal and Child Health on the Public Health Profiles page.
Academic Requirements
Those studying maternal and child health will take courses on reproductive health, healthcare access, and policy regarding sexual and reproductive health. Students may be able to specialize in one aspect of maternal and child health like women’s empowerment, nutrition, or reproductive rights.
Resources
- Receive more information about Public Health, events, and deadlines
- Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health
- Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
- American Public Health Association
- Council on Education for Public Health
- Delta Omega
- National Board of Public Health Examiners