Maternal and Child Health

A prescription for quality of life

Maternal and child health major Sumaiya Mamdani worked in a Nairobi slum with Women Fighting AIDS in Keyna (WOFAK) in what was “the most rewarding experience” she ever had.

Majoring in maternal and child health at SPH means broadening your scope to improving the health of youth and families, too. The faculty members are especially interested in socially vulnerable populations and the environments, behaviors, and policies that affect their long-term health and well-being.

A sampling of SPH research and efforts in this field reads like a prescription for increased quality of life and hopes for the future. 

The Young Adult Longitudinal Trends in Antioxidants (YALTA) study aims to better understand mechanisms underlying early atherosclerosis.

The BEST for Baby Project counsels parents of new infants about how to reduce their child’s second-hand smoke exposure and may be the first step in helping the parents quit smoking.

Promoting a healthy body image among elementary school children is the focus of the V.I.K. (Very Important Kids) project as it strives to reduce weight-related teasing, dieting behaviors, and media internalization.

The Native Teen Voices Survey gathered information about feelings and attitudes toward pregnancy among Native American youth. The data collection was Native-led as part of a research partnership between the Twin Cities Native community and the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health. 

Those students who choose maternal and child health as a focus also have a myriad of field experience possibilities. For example, Sumaiya Mamdani, a native Kenyan, wanted to help women and children in her homeland who are suffering from AIDS.

Through Women Fighting AIDS in Keyna (WOFAK), Mamdani worked in Kayole, a crowded slum in eastern Nairobi where one meal a day is the typical diet. There, she made daily rounds to visit AIDS orphans at home and school, making sure they took their medications and had adequate clothing and food. She also created a system to track the attendance and performance of older orphans who attend WOFAK-sponsored training in hairdressing, sewing,

“Touching the lives of these vulnerable people was the most rewarding experience I ever had,” says Mamdani.

And graduates of the program go on to help vulnerable populations in unusual ways, like Loren Gilchrist, Minnesota senator Al Franken’s health policy advisor.

To understand the breadth of scholarship and outreach in maternal and child health and to learn about opportunities for students, The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health and its publication Healthy Generations are among the best sources.