The purpose of the LAMB survey is to improve our understanding of why some women have better birth outcomes than others.  With the information, we can help future mothers to have healthy babies.  In order to have a healthy baby, a woman must first be healthy. We want to know what events and conditions contribute to the pre-conception and inter-conception health of women who may have children.

Pre-conception: the time before a woman becomes pregnant; preparation stage to becoming pregnant.

Inter-conception: the time between pregnancies; the period that a woman waits for her next pregnancy.

The issue of poor birth outcomes became a large concern when we recognized that Service Planning Area (SPA) 1, Antelope Valley had a markedly high increase in infant deaths from 1999 to 2002.  The majority of these deaths occurred among African Americans.

In order to reach the Healthy People 2020 goal of eliminating health disparities, as well as the objectives of reducing infant mortality, low birth weight, very low birth weight and preterm births in Los Angeles County, it is important to continue the LAMB survey in all  Service Planning Areas in Los Angeles County.  By collecting information on a number of Healthy People 2020 objectives including preconception, prenatal and postnatal care, childbirth education classes, breastfeeding, and other preconceptional and perinatal behaviors (folic acid supplementation, pregnancy weight gain, tobacco and alcohol use), the County can focus its resources and develop strategy based on evidence.  The need for the data collection is based on the following:

• Lack of information on perinatal (preconception, prenatal and postpartum) population

• The need for enhanced ability to identify and evaluate problems in other SPAs/communities for purposes of program implementation and improvement

• The need for community involvement to identify areas for public health intervention, and to develop resources for improved services