James A. Cooley, a healthcare researcher and analyst in the Medical and Social Services division at the Health and Human Services Commission, died Nov. 11, 2017.

In 2015, over half of respondents (61.4%) from 14 states reported bed sharing with their infant, and 38.5% from 13 states and New York City reported using any soft bedding, most commonly bumper pads and thick blankets.

The authors found that compared with women who never used hormonal contraception, the overall relative risk of invasive breast cancer among women who were current or recent users of any hormonal contraception was 1.20 This and more advisories are available here.

The goal of the initiative, and its associated learning collaborative, is to increase the number of very low birth weight infants that will receive human milk, preferably their mother’s milk, as their primary source of nutrition to assist with their immune and gastrointestinal tract development. More specifically, this project is focused on helping participating hospitals identify and overcome barriers to establishing maternal milk supply and barriers to supporting breastfeeding in the NICU. Initiative to Improve Infant Nutrition and Care in NICUs

The Obstetrics Subcommittee continued working on its Induction of Labor (IOL) Quality Improvement (QI) project, to reduce failed indicated induction of labor and ultimately reduce the primary cesarean delivery rate in Texas.

We asked the chairs of our QI initiatives to share some of the research they've found valuable over the last few months. Here are the highlights: 

ACOG, SMFM, and the ABM have issued a practice advisory for breastfeeding women after the FDA revised the labeling for all medicines containing codeine and tramadol. This and more advisories are available here.

Differences in breastfeeding rates for black and white infants persist across the country, with serious health impacts. This and other recent CDC MMWRs related to maternal and infant health can be found here.

From new state legislation for postpartum depression screenings to a look at what spiking maternal mortality rates mean for Texas, here's a list of all the biggest maternal and infant health news stories around Texas and the nation.