The Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative (FPQC) Second Annual Conference is just around the corner!

The conference held Thursday March 21 and Friday March 22 in Tampa will feature speakers with perinatal health care and medical expertise. There will also be  ”Hot Topics” break-out sessions Friday morning that will discuss the following:

• Progesterone Project
• Strong Start Initiative
• The Golden Hour
• Elective Deliveries
• Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

There is still time to register for the conference, however there are late registration fees.  To avoid late registration fees, register online now here.

Photo Courtesy of the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative

A recent study comparing 128,000 New York City third-graders born between 37 and 41 weeks and their standardized test score found that children born at the earlier end of the spectrum scored lower on reading and math tests.

Children born at 41 weeks were shown to score a point higher than those born at 37 weeks, the equivalent to an estimated 1.5 difference on an IQ test.

The study, published in the medical journal Pediatrics, emphasized the difference was small, but significant – especially for women who have the option to chose when their baby is born.

Other research has shown early elective deliveries before 39 weeks without a medical need put a baby at risk for learning disabilities, low birth weight and a higher morbidity/mortality rate.

A recent push for the use of a  simpler one-step test for gestational diabetes has led to an increase in the number of women diagnosed. The one-step test can detect milder cases of gestational diabetes, which can be treated with diet and exercise.

Pregnant women diagnosed with gestational diabetes experience high blood sugar levels. Out-of-control blood sugar levels can increase the growth of a fetus — making it too large for vaginal birth, requiring a C-section and/or an early delivery.

Women who develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy have a 35 to 60 percent chance of also developing Type 2 diabetes years later, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Early detection of even mild cases of gestational diabetes can help prevent complications during pregnancy and improve the health of both mother and baby.

For more information on gestational diabetes:

American Diabetes Association

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

World Health Organization

The Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative announced this week’s speaker spotlight for their Second Annual Conference is on Jeffrey B. Gould, MD, MPH, director of the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative.

Photo courtesy of Stanford School of Medicine.

Dr. Gould has over 40 years of experience in maternal health care. He is a member of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative executive committee. In addition to,  Dr. Gould is also a Robert L. Hess Professor in Pediatrics at Stanford University and the director of Perinatal Epidemiology and Health Outcomes Research Unit at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Gould will be  discussing, “Antenatal Steroids: Opportunities for Collaboration” and “Sustainable Perinatal Quality Improvement: Opportunities and Challenges”. His sessions day is scheduled for March 21.

Visit the FPQC website for more information on the Second Annual Conference.

The number of Cesarean deliveries is steadily rising. From 1996 to 2007, the rate of Cesarean deliveries in the United States increased by 53 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2010, 32.8 percent of all deliveries in the U.S. were Cesarean sections.

Why would a doctor perform a Cesarean section?

There are many different medical situations in which a doctor would perform a Cesarean section. For instance, the baby may be too large or the mother may have an infection, such as herpes, and cannot give birth vaginally. In some cases the patient can request a Cesarean section, even though it is not medically needed or recommended (Cesarean sections are costly and as with any surgery there can be complications).

A recent study looked at Cesarean rates more in depth to try to figure out why they are increasing. The study, published on the Health Affairs website compared Cesarean rates at 593 hospitals in the U.S. Researchers found the Cesareans rates at different hospitals varied tenfold, from 7.1 percent to 69.9 percent.

What can explain the variation in Cesarean rates in different areas?

Researchers in the study pointed the finger at the different methods of practice at each hospital. Doctors at one hospital may perform more Cesarean deliveries than others for different reasons, reasons unknown for now.

In order to pinpoint the exact reason for the large number of Cesarean deliveries in the United States the variations from hospital to hospital must be reduced. Then factors such as quality care and cost can be addressed.

For more information on Cesarean sections visit:

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists FAQ

FloridaHealthFinder.gov Deliveries and Newborns page 

Mayo Clinic web page for C-Sections

MedlinePlus, the National Institutes of Health’s website for patients/families produced by the National Library of Medicine.

The Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative announced Joan Younger Meek, MD, MS, FAAP, as the subject of this week’s “Speaker Spotlight”. Dr. Meek is set to give her speech “Instituting Baby Friendly Practices at Maternity Facilities” March 22 at the FPQC’s Second Annual Conference in Tampa.

Dr. Meek is the current Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Designated Institutional Official for the Florida State University College of Medicine. She is also the Clerkship Director Pediatrics at the college’s Orlando campus. Dr. Meek’s expertise is in pediatric nutrition, human lactation and breastfeeding support. She is also a registered dietitian and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.