Volunteer

Lend a helping hand…

Volunteer at CTIS Pregnant Health Information Line and promote a healthier pregnancy!

The Pregnancy Health Information Line is re-establishing its volunteer program.  Many years go, aside from an administrative assistant, a follow-up and a volunteer coordinator; staff was mostly made up of volunteers.  The volunteers were trained to do phone counseling and required to commit to at least six months of time. Back then, the volunteers all shared the same passion – to educate women about preventable birth defects – had various backgrounds such as moms-to-be, elementary school teachers, college students, pharmacology doctors, nurses, midwives, genetic counselors and even firefighters. Today, volunteers can work with outreach efforts in the communities, work on data analysis, and learn to interview callers who have questions about their exposures. At CTIS Pregnancy Health Information Line, staff work with specialists from Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Obstetrics, Cardiology, Neurology, Radiology, etc., and volunteers can learn about these various fields in medicine.

Volunteers at CTIS Pregnancy Health Information Line are given opportunities to practice important skills used in the workplace, such as teamwork, communication, task management, and organization. They not only develop skills that could benefit them in their future, but they also gain the satisfaction of providing women information and a peace of mind during pregnancy and breastfeeding. It’s the most rewarding part of the experience at CTIS!

Help us help pregnant moms and babies! Bring your passion and explore your interest at CTIS Pregnancy Health Information Line. For more information on the volunteer program, e-mail us today!

HELP US, HELP YOU…

Be part of something BIG by participating in our mom-baby follow-up studies!

It’s been known for sometime now that if a pregnant mom takes certain medications, has exposure to certain infections, chemicals or alcohol/illegal drugs, this can disrupt the normal development of an embryo or fetus and may cause birth defects and/or developmental problems in the child.

An agent that causes abnormal development in an embryo or fetus is called a teratogen. We know that about 10% of birth defects are caused by maternal exposures such as certain illnesses, chemicals, drugs or other exposures, while 30% are related to known genetic factors. The cause is unknown for the remaining 60% of birth defects. The following are examples of known human teratogens:

• Medications: Thalidomide, isotretinoin, carbamazepine, and valproic acid
• Infectious diseases: Rubella or German measles
• Chronic/heavy alcohol use

Unfortunately, for some medications, chemicals and other exposures, there are not enough studies in human pregnancy. Finding out whether particular exposures can cause problems will help prevent birth defects and developmental effects in the future. We enroll pregnant women in our research studies and it’s simple and easy to participate! When you contact us at CTIS and we’ve answered all your questions about the exposure you called us about, we may ask if you would be willing to enroll in one of our studies.

Participation may include:

• Telephone interviews during pregnancy and after the birth of the child.
• Request for medical records specific to the enrolled pregnancy
• Examination of the child by a specialized pediatrician
• Child development progress survey
• Face to face child development testing (if qualified)

Learn more about our developmental follow-up process by clicking here.

Have questions about our research studies? See our FAQs.

CTIS is currently conducting observational mom-baby follow-up studies on moms who have:

• ASTHMA OR ALLERGIES
• DIABETES
• EPILEPSY OR SEIZURES
• MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS

PLEASE REMEMBER: Pregnant moms will NOT be asked to take any medications during any of our follow-up studies.

CTIS is a member-service of the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) in North America. CTIS also collaborates and participates in OTIS Special Projects Research Studies.

Other observational mom-baby follow-up studies you can participate in can be found here.

FIND OUT ABOUT ALL OF OUR STUDIES AND HOW YOU CAN QUALIFY BY CALLING US TOLL-FREE AT (800) 532-3749.