Sara Josephine Baker
(1873-1945)

LINKS ON THIS PAGE
Overview
Education and Training
Career Path
Selected Achievements
Child and Adolescent Health Today
CDC's Role
Tips to Help Keep You and Your Children Healthy
Related Links

Overview

Sara Josephine Baker was born in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1873. She made significant contributions by helping to establish some of the first programs in preventive medicine and public health. She died in 1945.

Education and Training

• Medical degree from the Women’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children
  
  
  • Although she had not intended to become a physician, she decided to study medicine to support her mother and family after her father’s death. She applied to this institution because it was the only school of which she knew that would accept women.
    
    
• Internship at the New England Hospital for Women and Children
  
  
• Doctorate in public health from New York University-Bellevue Hospital Medical School
  
  
  • She was the first woman to receive a doctorate in public health from this institution.
    
    

Career Path

• Medical inspector for the New York Department of Health, followed by assistant commissioner of health
  
  
• Director of the newly established Bureau of Child Hygiene
  
  
• President of the Babies Welfare Association, later called the Children’s Welfare Federation of New York
  
  
• Consultant to the federal Children’s Bureau
  
  
• Representative on child issues to the League of Nations

Selected Achievements

• Established a city-wide school nurse program
  
  
  • Prevalent cases of head lice and the eye infection trachoma dropped to nearly zero.
    
    
  • In the summer of 1908, nurses educated mothers in their homes on how to take care of their babies, resulting in 1,200 fewer cases of infant death than the previous summer.
    
    
• Developed a program that included strict examination and licensing of midwives by the city
  
  
• Developed a fool-proof dispenser for administering silver nitrate to newborns’ eyes to prevent gonococcal infections and subsequent blindness
  
  
• Tracked down Mary Mallon ("Typhoid Mary"), a cook who was linked to a typhoid epidemic

Child and Adolescent Health Today

Infants and young children are at high risk for injuries for many reasons. Children are curious and like to explore their environment. This characteristic may lead children to sample the pills in the medicine cabinet, play with matches, or venture into the family pool. Young children have limited physical coordination and cognitive abilities. This factor can lead to a greater risk for falls from bicycles and playground equipment and make it difficult for them to escape from a fire. Their small size and developing bones and muscles may make them more susceptible to injury in car crashes if they are not properly restrained.

The health of young people, and the adults they will become, is critically linked to the health-related behaviors they adopt. Certain behaviors that are often established during youth contribute markedly to today’s major killers, such as heart disease, cancer, and injuries. These behaviors include: tobacco use; unhealthy dietary habits; inadequate physical activity; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behaviors that can result in HIV infection, other sexually transmitted diseases, and unintended pregnancies; and behaviors that result in violence and unintentional injuries (e.g., driving while intoxicated). These behaviors place young people at increased risk for serious health problems, both now and in the future.

CDC's Role

CDC continues to build on the work done by Sara Baker.

CDC is involved in many efforts to keep children safe. It supports programs that include increasing child safety seat use; preventing injuries related to residential fires; increasing bicycle helmet use; preventing child maltreatment; and increasing access to poison control services.

CDC also seeks to prevent the most serious health risk behaviors among children, adolescents and young adults. Activities include:

• Conducting surveillance in all 50 states to monitor priority health risk behaviors through CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, the School Health Profiles, and School Health Policies and Programs Study
  
  
• Synthesizing research findings to identify policies and practices that are most likely to be effective in promoting healthy behaviors among young people
  
  
• Funding statewide programs for coordinated school health that address tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, asthma, and other health issues
  
  
• Assisting state and local education agencies in evaluating the quality and effectiveness of their school health policies, teacher training, and curricula

Tips to Help Keep You and Your Children Healthy

• Wash your hands frequently, and remind others to do the same. You and your family should use soap and water for 15-20 seconds (long enough to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice) before, during, and after you prepare food, before you eat, after you use the bathroom, after handling animals or animal waste, when your hands are dirty, and more frequently when someone you are around is sick. Alcohol-based hand rubs may be used as an alternative.
  
  
• Protect your children from injury. Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in children from 1-21 years of age. The leading causes of fatal injuries in children are motor vehicles, fires/burns, drownings, falls, and poisonings. About 140,000 children are treated each year in emergency departments for traumatic brain injuries sustained while bicycling. You can reduce your child’s risk for the following:
  
  
  • Motor vehicle injuries: Use age-and-weight-appropriate motor vehicle child safety seats for infants and children up to age 4; use belt-positioning booster seats for children who have outgrown their child safety seats; use car seat belts on children when they fit these belts properly, usually at about 4 feet 9 inches tall; and be sure that children age 12 and younger ride in the back seat. Never operate a motor vehicle after using alcohol or other drugs that impair driving.
    
    
  • Fire/burn injuries: Install smoke alarms in your home, make a family fire escape plan, and practice the plan every 6 months.
    
    
  • Drownings: Do not leave children unattended when in or around bathtubs, buckets, toilets, and swimming pools. Be sure children wear personal flotation devices (i.e. life jackets) in and around swimming pools, ponds, lakes, and other open water areas.
    
    
  • Injuries from falls: Be sure that children on home and public playgrounds are supervised, particularly on climbing equipment and swings. Be sure equipment on which your child plays is well-maintained and that ground surfaces are made with material that reduces fall injuries, such as shredded rubber, wood chips, wood fiber, and sand.
    
    
  • Poisonings: Post the poison control number 1-800-222-1222 on or near every home telephone; store all medicines (including those of visitors), household products, and personal care products in locked cabinets that are out of reach of small children; place carbon monoxide monitors near the bedrooms in your house to monitor air quality; and check your house for lead-based paints.
    
    
  • Traumatic Brain Injuries: Be sure that you and your family (bicycle operators and passengers) wear bicycle helmets at any age, whenever, and wherever you bicycle. Be sure that bicycle helmets meet the standards of American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Snell Memorial Foundation, or American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).
    
    
• Reduce your baby's risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is the sudden, unexplained death of an infant under 1 year of age, and it is the leading cause of postneonatal death (death among infants aged 28-364 days) in the United States. To reduce risk for SIDS, place your baby on his/her back to sleep. Remove fluffy bedding and toys from your baby’s sleep area and make sure your baby’s face and head stay uncovered during sleep. Do not allow smoking around your baby, and do not let your baby get overheated during sleep.
  
  
• Keep food safe from harmful bacteria. Wash hands and surfaces often; don’t cross-contaminate utensils, dishes, or surfaces when cooking; cook foods to proper temperatures; and refrigerate foods promptly.
  
  
• Talk to your health care provider about immunizations. Adults and children should get appropriate immunizations depending on their age, lifestyle, and other factors.
  
  

Related Links

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/

An Ounce of Prevention Keeps the Germs Away*
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/op/

Baker, Sara Josephine*
http://search.eb.com/women/articles/Baker_Sara_Josephine.html

CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/

• About the Program*
  http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/about/

CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh

CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/

CDC's Preventive Medicine Residency
http://www.cdc.gov/epo/dapht/pmr/pmr.htm

CDC's Reproductive Health Information Source
http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/

Dr. S. Josephine Baker*
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/
biography_19.html

Fast Stats: Accidents/Unintentional Injuries
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/acc-inj.htm

FightBac Campaign to Reduce Foodborne Illness*
http://www.fightbac.org (Non-CDC site)

Healthy Youth: An Investment in Our Nation's Future*
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/about/healthyyouth.htm

Immunization Schedules
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/default.htm

Infant Health
http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/Infant.htm

Infants’ and Children’s Health Topics
http://www.cdc.gov/health/nfantsmenu.htm

Injury Control Recommendations: Bicycle Helmets*
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00036941.htm

Injury Fact Book, 2001-2002*
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/about/

Injury Fact Sheets
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/cmprfact.htm

• Childhood Injury*
  http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/childh.htm
• Child Passenger Safety*
  http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/childpas.htm
• Fire Deaths and Injuries*
  http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/fire.htm
• Playground Injuries*
  http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/playgr.htm
• Poisoning Prevention*
  http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/poisonprevention.htm
• Teen Drivers*
  http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/teenmvh.htm
• Water-Related Injuries*
  http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drown.htm

Preventing the Flu: Overview*
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm

Sara Josephine Baker: Physician and Public Health Worker*
http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/baker.html

SIDS: Back to Sleep Campaign
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/sids.cfm (Non-CDC site)

Back to Sleep Campaign Door Hanger*
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/doorhanger.htm (Non-CDC site)

Stopping Germs at Home, Work, and School
http://www.cdc.gov/germstopper/home_work_school.htm

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, United States, 1983-1994 *
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Publications/mmwr/wk/mm4540.pdf (page 859)

Post-Neonatal Surveillance- United States, 1980-1994 *
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/ss/ss4702.pdf

Trachoma: Technical Information
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/trachoma_t.htm

*Used as a source for this Web page.