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Infants

Infancy—the period of life from birth to age 1—is associated with a unique set of public policy issues related to babies' health, development, and welfare. RAND's research on infants spans a wide range of topics for this brief but important period of life, including infant mortality, low birth weight, neonatal care, immunizations, breastfeeding and feeding practices, and cognitive development.

Testimony

Is the MIECHV Program Improving Outcomes for Children and Parents?

Some features of the Federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program raise the likelihood that it will make the anticipated difference and produce the best results possible for at-risk families.

Apr 2, 2014
Commentary

Support for Implementing Home Visiting Under the Affordable Care Act

One groundbreaking provision of the Affordable Care Act is its funding for home visiting programs that match the parents of young children with trained specialists who provide information, social support, parental skill instruction, and more.

Jan 8, 2014
Research Brief

How to Develop Home Visiting Programs

Home visiting has achieved prominence on the national policy agenda because of the long-lasting positive outcomes. But how can stakeholders best plan, implement, and evaluate home visiting programs?

Dec 4, 2013
Tool

Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating a Home Visiting Program

Home visiting programs can help parents address the struggles of caring for young children by matching them with trained professionals who can support the development of quality parenting skills.

Sep 24, 2013
Commentary

Could Britain See a Baby Boom?

The royal birth comes at a time when fertility in Britain is increasing after decades of decline. Today, the U.K.'s total fertility rate, a proxy for the average number of children per women in a given year, is the third highest in Europe behind only France and Ireland.

Jul 31, 2013
Project

Improving Infant and Maternal Health in Rural Nigeria

The BORN Study examines efforts to improve maternal and infant health in Nigeria, where more than 250,000 infants die each year. BORN findings could have wide-ranging impact on health in the region.

Jun 13, 2013
Journal Article

The Social Determinants of Infant Mortality and Birth Outcomes in Western Developed Nations: A Cross-Country Systematic Review

Infant mortality (IM) and birth outcomes, key population health indicators, have lifelong implications for individuals, and are unequally distributed globally.

Jun 1, 2013
Journal Article

Effect of Chiranjeevi Yojana on Institutional Deliveries and Neonatal and Maternal Outcomes in Gujarat, India: A Difference-In-Differences Analysis

In an observational study using a difference-in-differences design, the relationship between the Chiranjeevi Yojana programme and the probability of delivery in health-care institutions, the probability of obstetric complications and mean household expenditure for deliveries was subsequently examined.

Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article

How Long After a Miscarriage Should Women Wait Before Becoming Pregnant Again?

Research in Matlab, Bangladesh, reveals that the shorter the interpregnancy interval (IPI) following a miscarriage, the more likely the subsequent pregnancy is to result in a live birth. However, very short IPIs are associated with a higher risk of mortality for the infants born after them.

Aug 20, 2012
Report

How Would Programs Rate Under California’s Proposed Quality Rating and Improvement System?

In 2010, the California Early Learning Quality Improvement System Advisory Committee recommended a structure for a voluntary quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) that could apply to the state's licensed centers and licensed family child care homes. Researchers examined fundamentals of the proposed QRIS rating scheme that could inform California's QRIS design.

May 1, 2012
Journal Article

Employment, Family Leave, and Parents of Newborns or Seriously Ill Children

Parents of newborns and seriously ill children often know about family leave options, but are too overwhelmed to apply for them. Most parents interviewed in this study wanted expert guidance and saw hospitals and clinics as promising information sources.

May 1, 2012
Report

Incorporating Child Assessments into State Early Childhood Quality Rating and Improvement Systems

Including child assessments in the design, implementation, and evaluation of quality rating and improvement systems or other quality improvement efforts could improve practice and raise care quality for early childhood education.

Feb 28, 2012
Report

The Use of Early Care and Education by California Families

Researchers describe child care and early learning arrangements for the approximately 2.8 million California children ages 0 to 5 who are younger than the age at which they would enter kindergarten.

Feb 28, 2012
Research Brief

How Child Assessments Can Help Early Childhood Quality Improvement Efforts

Researchers identify five strategies for incorporating child assessments into the design, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives designed to raise the quality of care in early care and education settings.

Feb 28, 2012
Report

Improving the Professional Development System for California's Early Child Education Workforce

California has taken steps to implement components of a comprehensive professional development system for its early child education workforce. However, further advances are needed and more information is required to identify possible inefficiencies in the current system.

Feb 28, 2012
Research Brief

Professional Development and California's Early Care and Education Workforce

As California seeks to improve the quality of early care and education programs and access to them, a key consideration is the effectiveness of the state's ECE workforce professional development system.

Feb 28, 2012
Journal Article

Circumcisions Performed in U.S. Community Hospitals, 2009

Although circumcisions may be performed for cultural or religious reasons, there has been debate over the ethics and medical necessity of this procedure.

Feb 1, 2012
Journal Article

What Are the Effects of Different Models of Delivery for Improving Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes for Poor People in Urban Areas in Low Income and Lower Middle Income Countries?

The burden of maternal and infant deaths falls disproportionately on low income countries (LICs) and lower middle income countries (LMCs1) and among the poorest within these countries.

Jan 1, 2012
Journal Article

Can Health Care Information Technology Save Babies?

Using a 12-year county-level panel, this study found that a 10 percent increase in births that occur in hospitals with electronic medical records reduces neonatal mortality by 16 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Apr 1, 2011
Content

Survey Data Provide Insights into Malaysian Family Life

The Malaysian Family Life Surveys were conducted in 1976-1977 and 1988-1989. The surveys collected detailed current and retrospective information on family structure, fertility, economic status, education, and more from a partially-overlapping sample of more than 4,000 individuals and households.

Sep 17, 2010

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RAND Topic:
Infants

Topic Synonyms:
Babies;
Baby;
Infancy

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