The research to date yields implications for how to enhance the quality of life for the youngest children and their families. Connecting vulnerable children and families to community-based programs strengthens parents’ perceptions of protective factors. Gordan, R. A., Fujimoto, K., Kaestener, R., Korenman, S., & Abner, K. (2013). Neurological bases of behavioral development in infancy. Committee on Obstetric Practice. Creanga, A. Children are born healthy to healthy parents, and pregnancy experiences and birth outcomes are equitable. Institute for Research on Poverty. Francis D. D. (2009). (2019). Rigorous research that focuses specifically on infants and toddlers is even more sparse. Parental mental health also impacts children through the quality of caregiving and the relationship between parents.16,17 Children also need frequent, preventative care throughout their lives to track their social-emotional, physical, and cognitive development, and to identify needs early and address them quickly. The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at The University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs translates research on the best public investments into state policy actions that produce results for young children and society. Importance of Prenatal care. Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). (2014.) Families have access to necessary social services through expanded eligibility, reduced administrative burden, and identification of needs and connection to services. Black infants are more likely than Hispanic and White infants to be born low birthweight,53 and Black mothers are more than twice as likely to die in childbirth.54 or experience severe maternal morbidity49 than White or Hispanic mothers—a racial disparity that persists across socioeconomic status and worsens at the highest educational levels.55,56 High rates of infant and maternal mortality and morbidity in the US, as well as racial inequities in these rates, underscore the importance of access to health care during this critical part of life. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/deep-dives/neglect/. RESEARCH BRIEF | B.001.0121January 2021Download PDF. It begins at conception and ends at birth approximately 270 to 280 days in length or of calendar 9 … (2005.) (2009). Nearly 7 million children are enrolled in child care centers in the US, and approximately 60 percent of those children are 3 years old or younger.71 However, data show that only 24 percent of infants and toddlers are placed in child care considered to be high quality by established standards.72 This fact alone illustrates the need for improvements in families’ ability to access child care, but other issues further complicate this issue. Prenatal vitamins, created specifically to deliver the nutrients necessary during pregnancy, contain extra folate. https://mchb.hrsa.gov/training/lifecourse.asp. Prenatally, shortly after the onset of gestation, the brain forms rapidly and achieves the basic structure found in the adult brain. About one month into this stage, the sex organs of the fetus begin to form. According to data from the National Survey of Children’s Heath, nearly 1 in 10 parents of young children report having to quit, decline, or substantially change a job due to problems with child care.24 For young children in families for whom job instability creates financial hardship, the associated stress on parents can compromise children’s physical and mental health, cognitive development, educational achievement, emotional wellbeing, and social adjustment later in life.12,25,26, The financial hardships described above have disproportionate impacts on families of color relative to White families. CDC Grand Rounds: Addressing health disparities in early childhood. 1. Later the zygote becomes a blastocyst. UW-Madison. Among developed countries, the US stands alone in these troubling upward trends.50 Adverse birth outcomes disproportionately affect Black families. Wright, T. S. (2011). Shonkoff, J.P., & Phillips, D.A. It is important that the mother takes good care of herself and receives prenatal care, which is medical care during pregnancy that monitors the health of both the mother and the fetus. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRENATAL PERIOD This is the first developmental period in the life span, though the period is short it is in many respects one of the most important period. National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. AAP News. More recent longitudinal investigations concerning the effects of prenatal and post natal anoxia have presented similar results. Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantaged children. Alaimo, K. 1. Evans G.W., Schamberg M.A. The prenatal period is the most important period of time for the physical development of a human being. Solari, C. D., & Mare, R. D. (2012). Brooks-Gunn, J. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. https://pn3policy.org/resources/why-do-we-focus-on-the-prenatal-to-3-age-period-understanding-the-importance-of-the-earliest-years. Receiving the proper prenatal services is important because it can help to improve the health of the woman and the fetus.