On August 4, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital (FMAIH) and Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (YRH)signed a cooperation agreement. According to the agreement, the two hospitals will deepen their cooperation in hospital management, medical construction, and discipline development. They will further establish and improve the links of assessment and intervention for "high-risk babies" to promote the overall development of maternal and child health jointly. ZHENGJianlin, Dean of the School of Medicine, Tongji University;YING Hao,vice director of FMAIH and leaders from YRH includingDirectorLE Yonglin, ZHAI Hua, vice director and Secretary of CPC General Branch, and vice directorWANG Huifang,attended the signing ceremony.
Both FMAIH and YRH are public medical institutions affiliated to Tongji University. FMAIH is one of the first provincial level maternity & child health hospitals in China, with the annual number of deliveries remaining the highest in the cityfor past five consecutive years. Its Gynecology Department hosts one of the most important clinical key disciplines in Shanghai, and its Obstetrics Department houses one of the first batch of national key clinical specialties, which includes four distinctive sub-specialties of: hypertension; placenta implantation abnormalities; preterm delivery; and gestational endocrine disease. As the first public rehabilitation institution in Shanghai, YRH is a first-class,national and provincial level rehabilitation center for people with disabilities and has established a rehabilitation service and clinical support system.YRH has the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine as its main body, supported by the Internal, Surgery, Gynecological and Pediatric Departments.
An important highlight of this cooperation is the strengthening of the assessment and intervention links for "high-risk babies." As one of Shanghai's neonatal intensive care centers, FMAIH has often treated premature babies born around 24 weeks gestation successfully with a near-international level of treatment for premature babies. In response to the currently high levels of high-risk pregnant women seeking care in specialty hospitals, the hospital launched its integrated health care service for pregnant women and infants, after setting up a high-risk infant clinic in 2013 to provide long-term follow-up care for premature and low-birth-weight infants born in the hospital. However, at-risk infants,due to factors such as assisted reproduction and high-risk obstetrics with or without showingobvious signs of organic problems at birth, may encountergrowth retardation over the mid- to long term.They are also atan increased risk of neurological diseases and neurobehavioral disorders, whichhave increased significantly. As risks of effects of these diseases may extend into adulthood, they place heavy burdens on individuals, their families, and our society. Since 2019, , a specific health monitoring service for high-risk pregnant women (even if the infants were born as "healthy children") has been added to the Department of Developmental Behavior Pediatrics on the basis of the original High-Risk Children Clinic. They conduct developmental disorders screenings and diagnoses, and neurobehavioral evaluations regularly.
The Maternal and Children Health Care Department of FMAIH has been working with the Pudong Clinical Department of YRH, which includes the establishment of rehabilitation referral pathways for speech-motor delay, autism and developmental coordination disorders, the joint launch of early language promotion health services at the Maternal and Child Health Center, the joint applications for research projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC),State Scientific and Technological Commission(SSTC) and National Health Commission(NHC), and a tripartite cultivation with the Nottingham Trent School of Psychology to train Chinese and British doctoral degree candidates in Pediatrics, Psychology, and Rehabilitation (currently approved by the British faculty), and other fields of study.
The cooperation between the two hospitals marks a new starting point for both sides to achieve more in-depth cooperation in medical education and research.In addition, itestablishes and improves the links of assessment and intervention for "high-risk babies" to build a national specialty that supports the health of mothers and their children in the big Tongji family.
By GAO Yan
Source: https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1002/74572.htm
