The Durham County Department of Public Health has a program called " Improving Community Outcomes for Maternal and Child Health ", or ICO4MCH.
The program has three goals and uses different ways to reach these goals.

1.            Improve birth outcomes: We work with healthcare providers and the community to teach people about the different types of birth control methods that they can use, and work to help make sure everyone is able to get the type of birth control and family planning services that they want when they want them.

2.            Reduce infant mortality: We help people quit smoking and using tobacco products. Smoking when a woman is pregnant is unhealthy for the baby, and smoking around kids is unhealthy for them, too. We help people quit smoking and help make rules to make it easier for everyone in Durham to breathe cleaner, smoke-free air.

3.            Improve the health status of children ages 0-5 in Durham; We work with Durham Connects, a program that sends a nurse to visit new moms and babies at home to celebrate the new baby, support the family, connect the family to any services that they might need, and follow up to check in on the family. This program is free and anyone can use it. They want to visit all new moms and babies in Durham!

An important part of the project is the Community Advisory Team, or CAT. This team is made up of people who work with families and children and also people from the community who give ideas and feedback about the program to help make it better. The team meets one time a month.

If you are interested in joining this team, please contact Shakeya Brevard at sbrevard@dconc.gov or 919-560-7180.