Birth Defects Program
Mission
To improve birth outcomes by identifying and monitoring birth defects.
What we do
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Identify children with birth defects and monitor prevalence trends.
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Collaborate with the Birth Defects Advisory Council, state agencies, healthcare providers, community organizations, parents, and other key stakeholders on information-sharing strategies and to increase efficiency of the surveillance system in identifying children with birth defects.
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Coordinate and develop effective strategies for primary and secondary prevention of birth defects by working with the Birth Defects Advisory Council, healthcare providers, community organizations, other RIDOH programs, and other key stakeholders. These strategies include distributing multi-vitamins with folic acid to women before they become pregnant.
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Work with the Birth Defects Advisory Council to develop service assessments tools to determine if children with specific birth defects were referred to and received appropriate supports and services on a timely basis.
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Conduct service assessments with families of children with specific birth defects and link children with birth defects, and their families, to appropriate services on a timely basis.
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Assure that healthcare providers, professionals and families have access to information regarding birth defects and resources by raising awareness of birth defects through presentations, publications, and outreach events.
Rhode Island Department of Health