Sally Jacober-Brown
Maternal and Child Health

As I was earning my Masters in Social Welfare, there was an opportunity to also complete a Masters in Public Health, and it seemed like a natural fit for me. I had always been concerned about maternal and child health issues, had worked in hospital and clinic settings.

A whole new world opened up for me! I had the opportunity to direct California's Sudden Infant Death Syndrome program at a time when about 650 babies still died suddenly and unexpectedly each year in that state alone. It was an honor to speak individually with many parents and child care providers and provide support and information. Our program trained public health nurses in all of California's 61 local health departments who made home visits to families, and developed written materials in multiple languages. We also compiled data from each family's experiences, and were able to develop protocols and training packages for police officers, coroners, and Emergency Department staff.

I then had the joy of spending four years in Northeastern Brazil training lay community health workers, and continue be passionate about helping to meet the basic needs faced by people here in the United States and around the world. People living on my street struggled and organized around basic public health issues such as clean water, protecting workers and their families from unsafe conditions at the local battery factory, and vaccination campaigns.

Back in North America, I worked in New Orleans (St. Thomas Health Clinic), Philadelphia (Child Care Resource Developers and Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth), and Northern New Jersey (Gateway Maternal and Child Health Consortium) on very similar problems in different contexts. I've also learned that I love teaching, and have taught coursework for undergraduate and graduate students in Public Health. Now I work for the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, whose Vision is “To lead America in ending hunger and improving nutrition and health.”

Sally Jacober-Brown, LSW, MPH
Food and Nutrition Service
USDA