NC infant mortality rate lowest in state history, WRAL

November 2011

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NC infant mortality rate lowest in state history, WRAL (11.01.2011)

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s infant mortality rate has hit a record low, state officials said Tuesday, a welcome development they attributed to a long-term strategy of investing in public health programs intended to help women of child-bearing age.

The newly released figures show there were seven infant deaths for every 1,000 live births in the state last year, the lowest rate recorded since the state began keeping track. The number is a drop from 7.9 percent in 2009, and part of the decrease was the even steeper decline in deaths of black infants, which fell from 15.8 to 12.7 per 1,000 births.

“Last year, 900 pregnant minority women received services through our Healthy Beginnings program without the loss of a single infant,” said state Health Director Dr. Jeff Engel. “This progress is a direct result of long-term, sustained investments in promising programs to reduce infant deaths and eliminate disparities in birth outcomes.”

The Healthy Beginnings program is aimed at promoting practices like breastfeeding, safe sleeping, elimination of tobacco use and other methods to help ensure healthy births. The state also has four federally-funded Healthy Start projects in 15 counties that are primarily focused on blacks and American Indians.

The new data puts the state close to the national average of 6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, a significant improvement from 1988, when the state ranked first in the nation in infant mortality, according to the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation, a private advocacy group.

Some child advocates warned Tuesday that the progress made since then could be lost because of budget changes made by state lawmakers this year, including the elimination of the Health and Wellness Trust Fund and the ending of a state grant to a clinic at East Carolina University specializing in high-risk pregnancies.

“Unfortunately, decisions by our state legislators in 2011 could put North Carolina back into the dark ages when it comes to infant mortality,” said Rob Thompson, executive director of The Covenant With North Carolina’s Children, a coalition of child advocacy groups.

Calls to the offices of state Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis were not immediately returned Tuesday.

And while the news is welcome, especially about the drop in infant deaths among blacks, the disparity with whites is still troubling, said Laila Bell, director of research and data at Action for Children North Carolina.

The black infant death rate, 12.7 per 1,000 births, is more than twice the white rate, which is 5.3.

“This is one of the biggest drops we’ve seen in recent years,” Bell said. “But the infant mortality rate among African-American communities is still higher than the overall infant mortality rate, so there’s still some work to be done.”