Mission

The Perinatal Advisory Council: Leadership, Advocacy and Consultation (PAC/LAC) has been a leading maternal and child health organization since its incorporation as a non-profit 501(c)(3) agency in 1981.  PAC/LAC’s mission is to improve perinatal health outcomes by providing leadership, education and support to professionals and systems caring for women and their families.  Children’s health and well-being start with a healthy pregnancy and the events that occur during an infant’s first few hours of life.  PAC/LAC strives to make those first health experiences the best by ensuring that pregnant women, babies, and families are cared for by the most competent professionals in well-equipped health care settings.  PAC/LAC has a long-standing reputation of excellence in the community for our work with hospitals and health care professionals.

PAC/LAC was started in 1979 by a community physician in response to a March of Dimes directive (Towards Improving the Outcome of Pregnancy – TIOP) recommending the creation of a perinatal regionalization system to increase optimal outcomes of pregnancy and childbirth.  Regionalization in these terms relates to achieving risk -appropriate care by triaging pregnant women and critically ill newborns via consultation, referral and transport to higher level of care providers and facilities when necessary, as dictated by health.  Prompted by the March of Dimes report, the State of California Department of Health Services (DHS) Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health / Office of Family Planning (MCAH/OFP) Branch created a statewide program entitled the Regional Perinatal Programs of California (RPPC) and funded activities throughout the state similar to those being conducted by PAC/LAC.  PAC/LAC has received a grant from the DHS MCAH/OFP Branch for almost two decades to serve as an RPPC for the counties of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara.  In this capacity PAC/LAC promotes cooperation among health care professionals and institutions providing perinatal care, and aids in the development and support of a regionalized perinatal health system.