FILE – A baby's toes peek out from a blanket at a hospital in McAllen, Texas. On Wednesday, November 1, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the U.S. infant mortality rate will rise to 3% in 2022. This is a rare increase in death statistics, which have generally been declining for decades. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
FILE – A baby's toes peek out from a blanket at a hospital in McAllen, Texas. On Wednesday, November 1, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the U.S. infant mortality rate will rise to 3% in 2022. This is a rare increase in death statistics, which have generally been declining for decades. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Local health officials continue to work to reduce the number of infants in Bartholomew County who die before their first birthday.
Columbus Regional Health and Indiana State Department of Health.
By comparison, Indiana's infection rate was 6.8 over from 2018 to 2022, according to final and preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. infection rate hovered between 5.4 and 5.7 annually during this period.
Infant mortality rate is the infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births. For purposes of rate calculations, an infant is defined as her baby under one year of age. Researchers and policy makers often consider infant mortality rates to be a barometer of the overall health of a community.
Bartholomew County has fewer than 20 infant deaths per year, so health officials choose to calculate local mortality rates at five-year intervals. The Indiana State Department of Health says mortality rates based on fewer than 20 deaths can be volatile and “must be interpreted with caution.”
Although the infant mortality rate has increased, it remains lower than from 2015 to 2019, when it was 7.7, and significantly lower than from 2011 to 2015, when it was 10.7.
“Overall, it's still lower than it was in the past,” said Patti Pigman, infant death prevention expert at Healthy Communities. “We don't see the huge mountains (like we used to). … It's starting to level off a little bit.”
Seven Bartholomew County toddlers died before their first birthdays in 2022, Pigman said. Preliminary figures for 2023 show five local infant deaths, but this figure may be revised later. By comparison, 15 infants in Bartholomew County died in 2015 and 12 died in 2019.
However, the Indiana State Department of Health records infant deaths by county of residence in the county where the infant died, so it is possible that not all of these deaths occurred in Bartholomew County. .
Bartholomew County Health Department records only track deaths that occur within the county's geographic boundaries, regardless of the infant's residence, but three infants died within county boundaries in 2023. It has been shown that
County records list the cause of death as pulmonary hypoplasia, unexpected sudden infant death, and possible suffocation during unsafe sleep. Pulmonary hypoplasia is a medical condition characterized by underdevelopment of the lungs, which can affect breathing, heart function, feeding ability, hearing, and overall development, according to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Local officials describe infant mortality as a “complex issue,” saying it is difficult to identify all the factors that may have contributed to the overall decline in infant mortality in Bartholomew County. He said he believes “better and earlier” access to prenatal care is important. Care may play a role.
“I think we are seeing improvements in early entry into prenatal care across the county,” Pigman said. “I think we're doing a good job of getting people into it. … I'd like to say, 'We've done all this and it's gotten better,' but I don't necessarily know that.” That doesn't mean it's true. We still have deaths. ”
At the same time, authorities are asking parents, grandparents, and others involved in the baby's life to discuss a variety of topics, including practicing safe sleep practices and ensuring that all families have what they need to practice safe sleep practices. We continue our efforts to educate adults.
Additionally, a class called “Daddy 101,” which provides a space for fathers to “ask questions without mom,” has become “pretty popular” over the past year or so, Pigman said. Local authorities have also produced a podcast called the IMPACT Healthy Communities Podcast, which includes interviews with experts in the medical field.
Healthy Communities' Infant Mortality Prevention Action Team is currently working on building new support groups for pregnant women and mothers, including Nexus Park Wellness Groups. The team also expanded to Jennings County last year.
This update from local officials comes after the Indiana State Department of Health reported that the state's infant mortality rate increased from 6.7 deaths in 2021 to 7.2 deaths in 2022. State health officials also reported a preliminary 2023 statewide infant mortality rate of 6.5, but officials said that number is not accurate. Planned changes.
Indiana's infant mortality rate remains higher than most other states. Indiana had the seventh-highest infant mortality rate in the nation in 2022, according to preliminary figures released in November by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. In comparison, Massachusetts' infant mortality rate in 2022 was 3.3, the lowest in the nation.
The Indiana State Department of Health said the No. 1 cause of infant death in 2022 will be perinatal risks and conditions related to maternal health and well-being. Perinatal risks include diseases that occur during pregnancy, during the birth process, or immediately after birth and affect the infant.
Other factors include lack of prenatal care, stress, obesity, and smoking. Nearly 36% of Indiana women who gave birth in 2022 were obese and another 26% were overweight, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Locally, officials are optimistic that infant mortality rates will continue to trend downward. However, there is a time lag in the data, so it may take several years for the data to be reflected in the statistics.
“We really started working on it in 2019, but we didn't really intervene until 2020,” Pigman said. “So from 2020 to him, 2024 will be his five years where we have actually stepped in to work on this.”
At the same time, he said zero infant deaths was “unachievable.”
“This is a very complex issue,” Pigman said. “It's really hard sometimes to even look at one incident and say, 'That's exactly what happened.' And even if you can understand exactly why something happened, it's hard to understand how to prevent it.” It can be very difficult.”
