INFANT MORTALITY RATE Better child care yields fewer deaths

Thirty-four children died in Mahoning County in 2002.
& lt;a href=mailto:skolnick@vindy.com & gt;By DAVID SKOLNICK & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The number of child deaths in Mahoning County dropped by 26 percent in 2002 compared with the previous year, largely because of a decline in the infant mortality rate, according to a report by the Mahoning County Child Fatality Review Board.
In 2002, 34 children died in Mahoning County, with nine of them dying before they turned 28-days-old -- compared with 46 children dying in the county in 2001, with 18 of them dying before they turned 28-days-old, the report states.
The 2002 child death figure is the lowest in the county in recorded history, said county health commissioner Matthew Stefanak of the review board, which includes local health and law enforcement officials.
"We attribute that to better medical care before and after birth," he said.
But the sharp decline in 2002 may not be a trend, Stefanak said. There were 21 confirmed child deaths in the county during the first six months of this year, he said.
Of the 34 child deaths last year, 23 were the result of natural causes, and 11 were injury related including four homicides, the report states. Twenty of the 34 lived in Youngstown.
Of the natural deaths, 18 were to children less than 1 year of age. Among those deaths, seven were because of prematurity, five were because of birth defects, three were caused by infection, and three were because of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
There were increases in deaths because of infections and SIDS in 2002 compared with the previous year, while injury-related deaths declined.
Since 1992, 598 children have died in Mahoning County, with 246 of them being children under the age of 28 days.
Recommendations
The board recommends the following for helping to prevent child deaths:
UPlace babies on their backs to sleep to reduce the risk of SIDS.
URequire children to wear helmets while riding motorcycles, bicycles and all-terrain vehicles.
UMake sure small children are supervised in the bathtub.
UEstablish two home escape routes from home in the event of a fire, and make sure smoke detectors are working.
& lt;a href=mailto:skolnick@vindy.com & gt;skolnick@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;