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Approximately 3.6 million live births occur every year in the United States. Between 8 and 9 percent of infants are born with low birth weight (LBW), defined by the medical community as less than 2,500 grams or 5.5 pounds at birth. While most infants born with LBW are not impacted by severe developmental disabilities or major or multiple health conditions, research indicates that these infants often do experience elevated rates of mild to moderate chronic health conditions that have meaningful functional impacts throughout an individuals life course. The Social Security Administration (SSA) asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene an expert committee to provide an overview of the current status of the identification, treatment, and prognosis of LBW babies, including trends in survivability, in the U.S. population under age 1 year. SSA also asked the committee to provide information on the short- and long-term functional outcomes associated with and the most common conditions related to LBW, available treatments and services, and other considerations. The resulting report, Low Birth Weight Babies and Disability, presents the committees conclusions.

The Home Visiting Program is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Congress created the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (Home Visiting Program) to support voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services for at-risk pregnant women and parents with young children up to kindergarten entry. The Home Visiting Program builds upon decades of scientific research showing that home visits by a nurse, social worker, early childhood educator, or other trained professional during pregnancy and in the first years of life improve the lives of children and families by preventing child abuse and neglect, supporting positive parenting, improving maternal and child health, and promoting child development and school readiness. Research also shows that evidence-based home visiting can provide a positive return on investment to society through savings in public expenditures on emergency room visits, child protective services, special education, as well as increased tax revenues from parents'earnings. This book examines the first findings from the Home Visiting Program.

This book focuses on nutrition services beginning in the preconceptional period and extending well beyond birth. It provides the rationale for the recommended nutritional services; briefly describes the necessary elements of these services; and indicates the personnel, knowledge, skills, and specialized education or training that may be needed to deliver them. It will be useful to policymakers, hospital administrators, directors of health centers, physicians in private or group practices, and others responsible for setting such standards and for overseeing health care services for expectant and new mothers and their infants.