Placed under the authority of the departmental councils, the Maternal and Child Protection Centers (PMI) are supervised by departmental doctors who direct the teams on the spot. These public health services are open for pregnant women, families and up to six years of age for children in order to provide them with advice, follow-up and medical care. The actions of a PMI are characterized by various missions relating to family life, health and education of young children.
What is the role of a Maternal and Child Protection center?
From one department to another, the actions of a PMI vary according to the budgetary means which are granted to it. In most cases, these family and child services are hosted in medical-social centers. Created in 1945, by order of the Minister of Health and Solidarity, François Billoux, the main role of a PMI is to ensure the health protection of women and children.
A PMI undertakes to accomplish several objectives on the departmental territory. The first is to measure the medical, physiological, social and educational needs for children and future parents. The Maternal and Child Protection centers also help families with children with disabilities. Thanks to medical consultations, they promote the screening and care of children affected by a disability.
These institutes also supervise establishments and childcare services for children under the age of six, such as crèches, day-care centers and nannies. They can also manage accreditation requests for childminders.
Maternal and Child Protection: is this service open to all?
This protection service is free, but some medical exams may require reimbursement. To prepare for a visit to a child protection center, take your vital card so that your Social Security organization can reimburse you electronically. If you ever forget it, a handwritten care sheet will be prepared and you can send it to your Health Insurance.
The health professionals present in the PMI centers support adolescents, young adults and future parents, but they are also dedicated to pregnant women and children under the age of six. To find the organization closest to your home, you can consult the site allopmi.fr. Depending on the department, the office hours, opening hours and making appointments vary.
In which cases, can we go to a PMI center?
A PMI center organizes consultations and medico-social prevention actions. Different missions are therefore implemented by a Maternal and Child Protection center. They differ according to the establishment and its means, but their vocation is always to accompany and guide users. A PMI can in particular intervene on:
- The different means of contraception
- Conjugal and family life
- Screening for AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
- Preliminary interviews for a request for voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG)
- Pregnancy follow-up
- Preparations for birth (healthy lifestyle, breastfeeding, infant care)
- Monitoring for a difficult pregnancy supervised with the attending physician
- Post-natal follow-up (management of the health book, growth, psychomotor development)
- Information on social rights and the steps to be taken
- Vaccinations for children under six
- Prevention actions against child abuse
- Children's health checks
- Training sessions for childminders
PMI: who are the professionals we can meet?
A Maternal and Child Protection center is under the responsibility of a departmental doctor. In addition to the general practitioner, various health professionals are present to guide individuals who visit the organization. The team is often made up of nurses in childcare, psychomotor therapists, doctors, midwives, special educators for young children.
Read also :
⋙ Pregnancy: why you should help pregnant women feel better about themselves
⋙ Pressure at school, busy schedule … When the mental load also affects children
⋙ Sandhoff's disease: how to recognize this serious childhood pathology?