Please take some time to read about MCC’s work as covered by the media, our events, and our important programs. We look forward to your comments on our important work.
On Sunday, moms across the country will wake up to breakfast in bed, cards, and their family ready to meet their needs. For a little while. But what’s missing from this list of gifts and special treatments? Paid parental leave that will make a true difference for moms and families. The U.S. remains the only “developed” country missing this most basic benefit. Our Deputy Director Bette Begleiter wrote a blog for Philly.com that about the importance of this benefit and how it impacts maternal and Read More…
In celebration of the Week of the Young Child, which was April 14-20, State Rep. Matthew Bradford of the 70th District read to children enrolled at our Norristown Early Head Start program. Bradford was one of the co-sponsors of House Resolution 221 which formally recognizes the Week of the Young Child in Pennsylvania. Check out some of the pictures featured in the Times Herald.
Do you know a male in the community who is advancing the role of fathers in the family? Nominate them for our Driving Fatherhood Award! We are now accepting nominations for our 4th annual Driving Fatherhood Awards. The awards will be presented on Monday, June 17th(the day after Father’s day) at the Radnor Valley Country Club. The awards recognize and honor men working to advance the role of fathers in the family, MCC programs, the community at-large, and in the sports arena. To nominate a member of Read More…
In his 2013 State of the Union Address, President Obama emphasized the need to give our kids a chance by making high quality-preschool available to every child. But sadly, those hopes have been dashed for the moment. Sequestration, the automatic budget cuts that kicked in when both parties failed to reach a more palatable debt reduction compromise, has lead to a 5% budget cut for current Head Start programs. Early childhood education is important because it forms the foundation for the growth and development of well-adjusted and productive individuals Read More…
This Friday, across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration are scheduled to take effect unless Congress takes action to stop them. Advocacy groups across Pennsylvania describe $85 billion in federal budget cuts as potentially having dire consequences for social service programs in Pennsylvania, including education, housing, and nutrition assistance.
As part of our larger breastfeeding promotion in North Philadelphia, Maternity Care Coalition is training women to become doulas, women who provide laboring women with physical support during childbirth. Recently, our own Naima Black, Breastfeeding Coordinator for the North Philadelphia Breastfeeding Program sat down with Next City Blog, to explain the importance of our work.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett “could not recommend” accepting federal dollars for Medicaid expansion– a statement that could leave thousands of uninsured families out in the cold. Despite many misconceptions, most of the uninsured are working people in low-wage jobs, often with families to support. They are our children’s child care providers, our parents’ nursing aides, and our paramedics. A disproportionate number are women, who make up the majority of the service, child care, and other industries that typically do not offer employer-based health insurance. Recently our Read More…
John George of the Philadelphia Business Journal is one of the recipients of our 2013 Spirit of Motherhood Award. George’s three-part series “Labor Pains” that focused on the role hospitals, managed care organizations, and community organizations play in improving access and quality of maternity care for women in Philadelphia. This was the first time a major newspaper in Philadelphia examined the complexities of this issue. The Philadelphia Business Journal covered this honor in a recent article.
When Claire Danes, star of the critically acclaimed Homeland, became pregnant at the height of the show’s success she did not lose her job. Instead, producers of the show made a variety accommodations to accommodate the actresses growing belly. Unfortunately many pregnant women are not that lucky. Under current federal law, employers are not required to make even minimal accommodations for pregnant women, forcing many women to leave a job they want or need. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 protects women from being treated differently Read More…
Although doctors agree that the breast is best, many women face barriers when breastfeeding their children. Through collaborative efforts with hospitals, employers ,and mothers those barriers can disappear. Recently our Breastfeeding Coordinator, Katja Pigur, sat down with Our Milky Way, the blog for Healthy Children Project Center for Breastfeeding, to discuss how collaborative efforts can benefit nursing women.
