The Honorable Donna F. Edwards
National Infant Mortality Awareness Month
October 30, 2013
Mr. Speaker, last month was National Infant Mortality Awareness Month. With the theme A Healthy Baby Begins with You and You and You, the month is established to highlight the tragic occurrences of infant deaths across the nation, and to bring attention to programs that can help save lives and ensure our children are healthy. Measured as a rate of infant deaths per 1,000 live births, infant mortality refers to deaths that occurred during infancy, in the first year of life, or from a live birth to age one.
Not all infant deaths are preventable, but with the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), we can begin to reduce the risk of infant death. The ACA is an investment in both the health of women and the health of newborns. Health care for women, preconception health, reproductive health, and maternity and well child care are covered benefits. One in five women of childbearing age is currently uninsured. With the enactment of this law, approximately 17 million women will have an increased opportunity to access and receive regular preventive services and prenatal care.
Although the overall infant mortality rate (IMR) in the United States declined steadily for several decades, it has leveled off for the past several years. In 2011, the rate of infant deaths before age one for the U.S. was 6.05 per 1,000 live births. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the U.S. IMR continues to be higher than the rates in most other developed countries, and the gap between the U.S. IMR and the rates for the countries with the lowest infant mortality appears to be widening.
In Maryland, infant mortality profoundly impacts women and their families. The most recent Maryland Vital Statistics numbers indicate an overall IMR in our State of 6.3 in 2012. The average IMR dropped from 9.5 to 8.6 in Prince George’s County during 2012, while it rose from 5.1 in 2011 to 6.4 in 2012 in Anne Arundel County.
While Prince George’s County experienced a decline in the African-American IMR last year –from 10.5 to 9.3 – the rate remains significantly higher than the white IMR of 6.4. Likewise, while Anne Arundel County experienced a steep drop in the African-American IMR – from 13.0 in 2011 to 9.0 in 2012 – the rate remains nearly double that of the white rate, which in 2012 increased to 5.5. And, in nearby Montgomery County, the IMR was reduced to 5.1 last year but the African-American rate stood at 8.2, almost double the rate for white infants at 4.2. This alarming and ongoing disparity across our region challenges us to continue seeking answers and solutions.
National Infant Mortality Month provides us a chance to raise public education and awareness about the levels at which this problem continues to affect our communities, and to educate women about ways they may reduce infant mortality with good health care during the mother’s pregnancy and the early years of the child’s life. A number of federal programs strive to reduce the IMR, by improving the health status of low-income women and children. These federal programs include Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grants, Medicaid, and Healthy Start. Local organizations and clinics like Bright Beginnings of Prince George’s County, Mary’s Center, Anne Arundel County Department of Health, and Storks Nest in Anne Arundel County, and Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and SMILE in Montgomery County offer a number of approaches to reduce infant mortality and help mothers and children live long and healthy lives.
I will continue to support and bring awareness to programs that improve access to health care and increase the quality of prenatal and newborn care to prevent the causes of infant mortality. Communities can play an important role in this endeavor by encouraging women to seek care before they become pregnant and during their first trimester. Also, we can all share information about some of the factors that affect infant mortality including smoking, substance abuse, poor nutrition, lack of prenatal care, and sudden infant death syndrome. We must ensure that our babies get a healthy start, to celebrate their first birthday and beyond, and bring much needed attention and awareness to the importance of reducing our infant mortality rate.
