The goal of this distance learning course, Preventing Infant Mortality and Promoting the Health of Women, Infants, and Children, is to permit students who may or may not reside in Baltimore to learn about the scientific and practical aspects of issues related to improving the outcome of pregnancy. While both national and international factors related to the prevention of infant mortality will be discussed throughout the course lectures, the focus is primarily on interventions to reduce infant mortality in the United States. The course is intended for current students in the Bloomberg School of Public Health—including MPH students, MHS students, and doctoral candidates interested in maternal and child health issues.

We will discuss questions such as the following:

• What do the measures infant mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio indicate about the health of a population?
• How do the complex social, economic, cultural, genetic, and behavioral factors contribute to infant health disparities seen?
• How can we appropriately intervene, in different cultural settings, to successfully improve pregnancy outcomes?

Focuses on the historical problems and interventions associated with infant mortality. Describes the scientific basis for infant mortality and analyzes causes and consequences in a population and development of a programmatic and policy approach.

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the scientific basis for infant mortality and for the interventions currently being used to address this problem
• Analyze the causes and consequences of high infant mortality in a population
• Develop programmatic approaches and policies to reduce infant mortality rates in a population

• Introduction to the Problem of Infant Mortality (Hawkins)
• Epidemiology of Infant Mortality I: Terminology and Immediate Causes of Infant Mortality (Hawkins)
• Epidemiology of Infant Mortality II: Person, Place, and Time (Hawkins)
• Conceptual Frameworks for Understanding Infant Mortality (O'Campo)
• Strategies for Reducing Low Birth Weight and Infant Mortality in the U.S. (Strobino) 
• Infant and Child Mortality and Global Health (Mookherji)
• Gabbing about Jabbing: Immunization in the U.S. (Layton)
• Newborn Screening (Rojas-Smith)
• International and National Approaches to the Problem of Infant Mortality (O'Campo)
• Current Controversies in Perinatal Health (Strobino)
• Racial Differences in Pregnancy Outcomes (Strobino)
• Measures of Neonatal Morbidity (Strobino)
• Evaluating the Prevention of Infant Mortality (Hawkins)
• The Delaware Infant Mortality Task Force Case Study (Guyer)
• Situation Analysis in Liberia: Women, Infants, and Children (Reeve)
• Public Policy and Infant Mortality (Minkovitz)

All required reading materials for this course are accessible for downloading, reading, and printing in Welch Library's E-Reserves. If prompted, enter 380765sph for the password. If you run into difficulties accessing E-Reserves from home, you may need to download, install, and use VPN ("JHSecure Virtual Private Network Service").

A master list of all required readings for the course is posted in the Online Library. Also posted is a comprehensive list of recommended readings, if you would like more information related to specific lecture topics.

Two papers: The papers are to be submitted via to the course Drop Box, either in WP or Word (12 point serif font like Times, or 10 point sans serif font like Helvetica; double-spaced). Fax copies will not be accepted. Papers are to be submitted no later than the due date and time indicated on the course Schedule. Points will be deducted for each day the paper is late. The papers will be returned to you by email with revisions and comments.

• Paper 1 will count towards 30% of your grade
• Paper 2 will count towards 30% of your grade

Five short written exercises in the Bulletin Board (BBS): The BBS exercises count toward 40% of your grade (four will be graded; 10 points each).

Five self-quizzes: Required, but not submitted or graded.

Four LiveTalk sessions with faculty: Not graded. Dates are indicated on the course schedule. If you miss a session or want to review the discussion, you can access the archive on the LiveTalk page.

You must also complete a course evaluation.

Instructor: Melissa Hawkins Additional Faculty: Bernard Guyer; Christine Layton; Cynthia Minkovitz; Sangeeta Mookherji; Patricia O'Campo; Courtney Reeve; Lucia Rojas-Smith; Donna Strobino Teaching Assistant: Terri-Ann Thompson

The Course Schedule outlines all the important course dates and deadlines but does not contain links to access course material. The Course Content page (password-protected) is set up like the schedule page but provides access to course material.

The Department of Population and Family Health Sciences would like to acknowledge The Thomas Wilson Sanitarium for Children of Baltimore City Fund and, in particular, Dr. Mel Spragins. We would also like to thank Dawn Misra, formerly with the Department and now with the University of Michigan, for her continued support and contributions towards the course.