May gives us a lot to celebrate and a lot of opportunities to raise awareness. Mark your calendars for these upcoming health observations and holidays, and send these cards to raise awareness! Contact our team at the Center for Better Beginnings to learn more about our programs after reading more about us below.

• May 5 | Maternal Mental Health Day
• May 3 – 7 | National Mental Health Week
• May 5 | International Day of the Midwife
• May 6 – 12 | National Nurses Week
• May 9 | Mother’s Day
• May 9 – 15 | National Women’s Health Week
• May 12 | International Nurses Day

These awareness days remind maternal caregivers to make their health a priority and take care of themselves — for their own health and the benefits that this extends to the entire family. Healthy choices that pregnant and breastfeeding people make can make a big difference on the growth and development of their children.

#ShowLove4Moms E-Cards

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Discover Our Programs for Moms & Babies

The Center for Better Beginnings at UC San Diego advances the health of moms and babies through scientific discoveries. Our role is to better understand environmental influences affecting maternal health and child development, including the causes of birth defects and how they can be prevented. We are closely monitoring emerging and existing conditions and discovering new ways for prevention and treatment.

MotherToBaby California is a trusted source of evidence-based information on the safety of medications and other exposures during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. We specialize in answering questions about the safety/risk of exposures, such as medications, vaccines, chemicals, herbal products, substances of abuse, maternal health conditions and much more, during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Our bilingual information service (English and Spanish) is available by chat, phone, and email at no cost to moms, health professional, and the public.

Mommy’s Milk is exploring the powerful benefits of human milk, and how it influences child health and development. Discover how our Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Research Biorepository is building the first-ever research database of human milk—and find out what this means for the future of science.

Prenatal alcohol exposure is the leading preventable cause of birth defects and neurodevelopmental disabilities in the United States. It can cause developmental, cognitive, and behavioral problems that last a lifetime, and that are known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The Institute for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Discovery (IFASDD) and the Nine Months Matter campaign are informing others about how devastating alcohol is to a developing brain, and what a possible FASD diagnosis means.

Did you know that 9 out of 10 women in the United States take a medication during pregnancy, but only 10% of medications have known safety information for use in pregnancy? MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies is a series of observational studies aimed at evaluating the safety in pregnancy of a variety of prescription medications and vaccines. These critically important studies help pregnant people and their healthcare providers learn more about what may be safe and what should be avoided in pregnancy.

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