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CONTACT: Stephanie Smiley, (608)
266-5862
INFANT MORTALITY RATES DECLINE SLIGHTLY BUT ONGOING EFFORTS NEEDED
Rate Remains High for African American Infants; September is Infant
Mortality Awareness Month
MADISON—Even as updated data reported during Infant Mortality Awareness
Month shows some decline in the infant mortality rate in Wisconsin
during the past two decades, state health officials today affirmed their
ongoing commitment to achieving significant reductions in the future.
“Our work with statewide partners to bring down this still
unacceptably high infant mortality rate goes on all year long,” said Dr.
Henry Anderson, State Health Officer. “During Infant Mortality Awareness
Month we pause and reflect on our progress to date, but this important
work continues on a daily basis.”
The overall infant mortality rate in Wisconsin declined from 8.0 to
6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, based on three-year averages, but the
gains did not fully extend to minority groups. For 2008-2010, African
American infants were 2.7 times as likely to die before reaching their
first birthday as an infant born to a white woman.
In 2010, 393 Wisconsin infants died during the first year of life:
247 were white, 95 were African American, 29 were Hispanic/Latino, six
were American Indian, eight were Laotian and Hmong, and eight were of
other race or unknown origin.
Health officials are involved in several programs around the state
that target different causes of infant mortality, Anderson noted. These
include:
- Promoting breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for
babies;
- Encouraging women to quit smoking through programs like the
Strive to Quit initiative for eligible individuals enrolled in
Medicaid, and asking others to reduce second-hand smoke near
pregnant women and infants;
- Working with HMOs in southeast Wisconsin to promote and support
medical homes for high-risk pregnant women to ensure a more
comprehensive approach to care, including care coordination and home
visits;
- Partnering with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine
and Public Health’s Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families (LIHF),
a $10 million multi-year effort to reduce racial and ethnic
disparities in birth outcomes;
- Working with the Wisconsin Hospital Association, the Wisconsin
Association for Perinatal Care, and other partners to encourage
woman to avoid scheduling induced deliveries or cesarean sections
before 39 weeks of pregnancy when not medically necessary, to
improve infant health outcomes;
- Collaborating with the Department of Children and Families on
home visiting throughout the state;
- Working with partners statewide to promote safe sleep
environments for infants, emphasizing messages like “back to sleep”
and “sharing a room, but not a bed”;
- Promoting text4baby, a free text message program for pregnant
women and new mothers that sends text messages on maintaining a
healthy pregnancy and early childhood health during the first year
of their child’s life. Participants sign up by texting BABY (Bebe in
Spanish) to 511411.
For information on programs and resources to reduce infant mortality
and improve infant health:
www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/healthybirths/.
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Last Revised:
September 25, 2012
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