Infant Mortality

As a single mom struggling to navigate the work-life juggle, Tynesha Ross found herself cutting corners at dinner time. After work and exhausted, she'd make a beeline for McDonald's. Happy meals for her two kids, a value meal for her. Home. Eat. Homework. Bed. The ease of the routine bumped up against the reality of her poor health. Overweight and unhappy, she began going to weekly Weight Watchers meetings at the community nonprofit DRU/Mondawmin Healthy Families, where she learned shortcuts for making healthy food.

A Baltimore campaign to reduce the city's high rate of infant mortality got a $1 million boost Wednesday that will enable it to continue its efforts. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield awarded the renewal grant to sustain the B'more for Healthy Babies campaign.  The grant builds on CareFirst's initial $3 million grant, extending the program through 2013. The money was approved during Wednesday's Board of Estimates meeting. B'more for Healthy Babies, launched in 2009, seeks to prevent infant deaths through policy changes, by educating providers, and through community outreach and mobilization.

Nearly 35,000 low-income women in the state are now eligible for free pregnancy counseling, contraception and screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and breast cancer under a program that starts at the beginning of the year. Lawmakers and health officials announced Monday that women with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line — or $22,000 per year for a single woman — can gain access to the free family planning services beginning Jan. 1. The program was made possible by the Family Planning Works Act, legislation enacted during the last General Assembly session.

Nearly 35,000 low-income women in the state are now eligible for free pregnancy counseling, contraception and screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and breast cancer under a program that starts at the beginning of the year. Lawmakers and health officials announced Monday that women with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line — or $22,000 per year for a single woman — can gain access to the free family planning services beginning Jan. 1. The program was made possible by the Family Planning Works Act, legislation enacted during the last General Assembly session.

Although the infant mortality rate in Maryland showed a promising decline in 2009, there is little cause for celebration in Baltimore City. In contrast to much of the rest of the state, its infant mortality rate (deaths in children less than 1 year old per 1,000 live births) increased from 12.2 in 2008 to 13.5 in 2009. While the mortality rate among white infants in Baltimore dropped slightly, the mortality rate in black children rose to a shocking rate of 15.8 per 1,000 live births, a rate higher than that of many third world countries.

Kudos to all the programs that have contributed to the reduction in infant mortality in Baltimore. ("Md. infant mortality hits record low," August 24). I would like to mention two highly effective programs: Family Support Centers and Home Visiting programs, both of which build trusting relationships within communities in order to effectively engage women in prenatal care and partner with new mothers to ensure that their infants thrive. Located in five Baltimore neighborhoods with high rates of teen parenting and poverty, Family Support Centers reach out to pregnant women and new parents, engaging them in programs/services that increase the odds for child health and well-being.

Maryland's infant mortality rate dropped to its lowest point in 2009, according to preliminary statistics, but state public health officials say there is still need for improvement. The overall rate decreased to 7.2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in Maryland last year, down from 8 in 2008 — a 10 percent decrease. The teen birth rate also decreased, from 2.8 births to women under 18 to 2.6, with declines recorded for black and white women. "We are so pleased this is showing positive progress," said Frances Phillips, Maryland's deputy secretary for public health.

WASHINGTON -- Bush administration officials intend to finance a proposal by President Bush to combat infant mortality in 10 cities by taking money from other health programs that serve pregnant women, poor children and the homeless.In a letter yesterday to Congress, Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, secretary of health and human services, said the administration planned to take $24 million from community health centers and $34 million from the existing Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant this year.

WASHINGTON -- Infant mortality in the United States declined to a record low last year, but the gap between rates for blacks and whites is growing and is not expected to narrow in the next 15 years, the government reports.Preliminary data, disclosed yesterday by the National Center for Health Statistics, show that there were 7.9 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births in the United States in 1994, while the figures for 1993 and 1992 were 8.3 and 8.5, respectively.The rate first fell below 12 per 1,000 in 1981.

Maryland's infant mortality rate, one of the nation's worst in the mid-1980s, improved significantly during the second half of the decade.Progress became evident this week when the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation released a report that showed the state's infant mortality rate to be 20th-worst in the nation in 1990, the most recent year for which figures are available. In1987, Maryland was seventh from the bottom."It's due to the emphasis on prevention," said Health Secretary Nelson J. Sabatini, who credited programs put into effect since Gov. William Donald Schaefer took office in 1987.

As a practicing physician for over 40 years, I was saddened and disappointed to read that our own U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski lead the effort to successfully defeat a Senate amendment that would have made it easier for individuals to get prescription drugs from Canada for general use. She argued that "opening the borders to Canadian-made drugs could endanger American consumers. " "We could be importing death," she was quoted as saying. Shame on you, Senator Mikulski! Contrary to rumors from the pharmaceutical lobbyists, Canadians are not dying in the streets from poisoned medications.

In the continued effort to reduce infant mortality in Baltimore, health officials and the Family League of Baltimore City have launched an effort to reduce secondhand smoke near babies and pregnant women. The campaign, called "Just Hold Off," is the second phase of the B'more for Healthy Babies program. The first phase, launched in August 2010, focused on safe sleep: Babies should sleep alone, on their backs in a crib. Officials are urging smokers to back away from pregnant women and babies in the home, vehicles, bus shelters and elsewhere.

Kudos to all the programs that have contributed to the reduction in infant mortality in Baltimore. ("Md. infant mortality hits record low," August 24). I would like to mention two highly effective programs: Family Support Centers and Home Visiting programs, both of which build trusting relationships within communities in order to effectively engage women in prenatal care and partner with new mothers to ensure that their infants thrive. Located in five Baltimore neighborhoods with high rates of teen parenting and poverty, Family Support Centers reach out to pregnant women and new parents, engaging them in programs/services that increase the odds for child health and well-being.

Reduce the rate of emergency department visits by 10 percent for asthma, hypertension and diabetes and hospitalizations by 15 percent. Decrease the percentage of adults and teens who smoke by 20 percent and births to women who smoked during pregnancy by 15 percent. Decrease the percentage of adults who are obese and inequities in supermarket access by 15 percent. Decrease the rate of premature death from cardiovascular disease by 10 percent and increase percentage of adults with high blood pressure on medication by 20 percent.

Women in the Baltimore area will soon hear radio ads urging prenatal care as local health officials continue efforts to stem high minority infant mortality rates. Black infants in the Baltimore area are nearly twice as likely to die as white babies, according to state health statistics from 2009. The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has given Baltimore County grants — including $84,000 last year and $30,000 this year — for programs and informational campaigns aimed at lowering the rate.

As a single mom struggling to navigate the work-life juggle, Tynesha Ross found herself cutting corners at dinner time. After work and exhausted, she'd make a beeline for McDonald's. Happy meals for her two kids, a value meal for her. Home. Eat. Homework. Bed. The ease of the routine bumped up against the reality of her poor health. Overweight and unhappy, she began going to weekly Weight Watchers meetings at the community nonprofit DRU/Mondawmin Healthy Families, where she learned shortcuts for making healthy food.

Young pregnant women don't seek needed prenatal care for lots of reasons -- they're poor, they don't know where to go, they don't have transportation.This week, using a $30,000 grant from the CIGNA Corp., the county health department will expand a program aimed at breaking down these barriers into Brooklyn Park, which now has the highest infant mortality rate in the county.The program, Healthy Generations, was started three years ago in Glen Burnie, using a state health department grant. At the time, Glen Burnie had the highest infant mortality rate.

The Census Bureau reaffirmed this week that Maryland is the wealthiest state in the nation, yet when it comes to the health of its citizens it's almost embarrassingly run-of-the-mill. According to a report this month by an advocacy group that tracks state public health policies and clinical data, Maryland ranked just 21st overall on a list of key health indicators nationally. That's disturbing news, but not nearly as troubling as the reasons behind it. Those reasons aren't hard to find: Although it is home to some of the best primary care physicians and hospitals in the country, the state hasn't done nearly enough to deal with the enormous public health crises that affect its neediest citizens, many of whom are concentrated in urban areas whose problems have long been considered intractable.

Maryland again got a middle-of-the-pack ranking among states for the health of its residents, according to a report issued Tuesday from health research and advocacy groups that looked at a host of government measures and private data. Maryland was unmoved from last year's ranking at 21st by the United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention. To make its ranking, report authors assess behaviors, public and health policies, community and environmental conditions and clinical care data.