PERINATAL ADVISORY COUNCIL LEADERSHIP ADVOCACY AND CONSULTATI

PAC/LAC works to address the significant unequal and avoidable differences in maternal and child health status through our community of health care professionals throughout state agencies, local health jurisdictions, hospitals, community organizations, advocacy groups, and stakeholders. Through a lens of increasing access to quality comprehensive care and decreasing maternal child health disparities, PAC/LAC educates and facilitates discussions and interventions on racial/ethnic/socioeconomic disparities linked to prenatal and intrapartum care, high rates of preterm birth, low birth weight infants, fetal and infant death, gestational diabetes, and obesity. We also work to increase awareness and knowledge of maternal and postpartum depression, intimate partner violence, and perinatal substance use.

Our goal is to create community health partnerships that bring together key stakeholders to address systemic and institutional change. We understand that health is more than the absence of disease, it is a resource that helps people adapt to challenges, resist illness, cope, feel secure, and positively interact with their surroundings. Healthy behaviors and experiences during pregnancy relate not only to birth outcomes but set the stage for the life-long health, impacting child development and chronic disease in adulthood.

PAC/LAC board members and staff embrace, exemplify, and embody our organizational core values in the following ways:

Service Excellence
We meet our mission and vision by producing extraordinary work.
We seek and accept challenges to improve health outcomes for women and their families.
We support each other as a team to provide excellent services.

Integrity
We interact with health professionals and organizations in a respectful and ethical manner.
We approach our work with honesty, integrity, and enthusiasm.

Learning
We promote continuous learning and professional development for health professionals.
We are dedicated to sharing our expertise to improve the health of women and their families.
We proactively pursue learning opportunities for professional and personal growth.

Collaboration
We partner to share information to enhance the effectiveness of our work.
We actively participate in activities with community partners and staff to support our mission.
We are available and accessible to individuals and organizations who share our vision.

Innovation
We strive to develop new ideas and produce better results to benefit women and their families.
We address implementation, evaluation, and sustainability when approaching each project.
We are open to taking risks and thinking outside of the box.

Fun
We maintain a healthy perspective on work and life balance.
We inject fun and humor into our daily work.
“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun"-Mary Poppins

PAC/LAC's 35-year history has established it as a perinatal healthcare leader and a trusted resource for all maternal and infant healthcare needs. Through quality improvement initiatives, program design and implementation, creating and supporting networks within hospitals, and facilitating educational events, PAC/LAC works diligently with hospitals and Community Based Organizations to provide optimal care to mothers and babies.

As a Regional Perinatal Program of CA (RPPC), PAC/LAC works with 70 regional hospitals to guide and support quality improvement activities, provide ongoing technical assistance, and study data that is intrinsic to improving birth and maternal health outcomes in each hospital. The 70 hospitals in PAC/LAC's regions represent 30% of all maternity hospitals in CA, and 30% of all CA births occur in these hospitals. PAC/LAC has developed exceptional awareness of the culture, policies, and procedures within hospital infrastructures and uses this knowledge to expand perinatal health professionals' education and promote model hospital policies within each facility.

As an accredited provider of continuing education for physicians, nurses, and licensed clinical social workers, PAC/LAC is a trusted community leader for perinatal education. For the past 20 years, PAC/LAC has held annual conferences that increase knowledge of current perinatal healthcare issues and innovations in perinatal care. To expand its outreach, PAC/LAC offers online educational modules and launched its first virtual curriculum to help hospital staff complete Baby Friendly education requirement. Since 1985, PAC/LAC has also produced Guidelines of Care to provide healthcare professionals with best practice guidelines.

PAC/LAC has built strong, reliable relationships not only with hospitals, but also with community organizations, collaboratives, and public entities. It is through these relationships that PAC/LAC has actively worked to connect hospitals with community organizations to reduce healthcare disparities and expand the continuum of care.

PAC/LAC has evolved and adapted to meet the needs of our hospitals, clinics, and community based-organizations for more than 35 years due strong support of a dedicated Board of Directors, effective leadership, and qualified committed staff.