[415]MTSU’s Center for Health & Human Services Receives Funding from March of Dimes

Release date: April 21, 2008

News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Center for Health and Human Services contact: Carol Smith, 615-904-8342

MTSU’s Center for Health & Human Services Receives Funding from March of Dimes for Two Educational Programs

(MURFREESBORO) — The MTSU Center for Health & Human Services has received $23,500 from the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter Community Grants Program for two projects focused on folic acid and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome education.
“Good Health Looks Good: Folic Acid Every Day” is a program that targets adolescent girls through Girl Scouts, 4-H, and other community-based organizations, a March of Dimes official said. The program teaches young women about the importance of folic acid and the role folic acid plays in the prevention of birth defects.
Project goals include increasing the number of girls who are aware of the need for folic acid and who take a daily folic acid supplement.
This is the second year the March of Dimes has provided funding the program. The SIDS portion of the grant was a check for $16,135. The March of Dimes provided $7,365 with the second grant.
The MTSU center is providing education to approximately 600 girls. For 2008-09, the center hopes to reach an additional 200 Girl Scouts in Middle Tennessee. The center partners with the Tennessee Folic Acid Council and the Tennessee Department of Health on this initiative.
The SIDS project is being funded for the first time and will provide SIDS risk reduction education to Rutherford County parents who use health department services and day care providers who work in low income areas of the county.
Rutherford County has the fourth highest rate of SIDS deaths in the state, after Shelby, Davidson, and Hamilton counties. This program will focus on teaching parents and day care providers how to reduce a baby’s risk for SIDS by following five simple steps:
· place babies on their backs to sleep;
· place babies to sleep on firm surfaces away from soft bedding, pillows or toys;
· never smoke around babies;
· keep babies at a comfortable temperature; do not let them get overheated;
· Babies should sleep in their own crib or bassinet and should not co-sleep with parents or older siblings.
For more information on MTSU’s Center for Health and Human Services and the folic acid and SIDS education programs, contact Carol Smith at 615-904-8342 or e-mail her at csmith@mtsu.edu.
The mission of the March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. The March of Dimes celebrates those babies born healthy, honors those who have passed and fights for solutions for those born prematurely or with birth defects. To honor and celebrate the babies and children who have touched your life, consider creating a FAMILY TEAM to help remind everyone of the urgency of the mission of the March of Dimes. For more information, please contact Tamara Currin at 615-399-3200. The Murfreesboro March for Babies will be held on Sunday, April 27, beginning at 1 p.m. at MTSU’s soccer field.

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PHOTO CAPTION

Tamara Currin, left, associate director of program services for March of Dimes, presents a check for $16,135 for the SIDS education grant to Carol Smith of MTSU’s Center for Health and Human Services. The March of Dimes also contributed $7,365 for a second grant.