State ignores the reality of area’s infant mortality

Year after year, when the national statistics on infant mortality are made public, the Mahoning Valley finds itself in the unenviable position of having one of the highest death rates of babies in the U.S.

The Vindicator’s archives are replete with stories going back many years about this region’s tale of woe. Mahoning County, in particular, has had to come to grips with the reality that too many babies are dying before their first birthdays.

Last year, this newspaper published a story that laid out in great detail the extent of the problem. In Mahoning County, the overall infant-mortality rate for 2006-10 was 9.7 per 1,000 live births, and significantly higher among the non-Hispanic black population, at 16.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The story also pointed out that the county’s overall infant-mortality rate was higher than that of Ohio’s, which at 7.7 per 1,000 live births ranked 47 out of the nation’s 50 states. The overall rate for the U.S. was 6.1 per 1,000.

In the story, Mahoning County District Board of Health Commissioner Patricia Sweeney said several agencies were collaborating on a plan to decrease infant deaths and reduce the racially disparate birth outcomes.

Problem persists

And yet, the problem persists. In 2012, Mahoning County was the 10th highest in the nation for infant mortality among counties with 250,000 people or more. The unacceptably high rate in the black community – 23.7 deaths for every 1,000 births – was the major contributing factor to the overall number.

Against that backdrop, we are astonished that officials of the state of Ohio would be so blind to what is occurring in the Mahoning Valley that they would not select an area community-health center to share a $900,000 grant aimed at enhancing prenatal and infant health.

We have come to expect Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati to get preferential treatment when it comes to handing out discretionary state dollars for seemingly unimportant projects, but in this case we’re talking about the life and death of babies.

How could officials of the Ohio Department of Health, who obviously are familiar with the national and state statistics, not have recognized that a true emergency exists in the Mahoning Valley?

The community-health centers that will benefit from the $900,000 grant for the CenteringPregnancy program are PrimaryOne Health in Columbus; Five Rivers Health Centers in Dayton; Muskingum Valley Health Centers in Muskingum County; and, Neighborhood Health Association in Toledo.

CenteringPregnancy is a nationwide program that has proved to increase live-birth rates and decrease infant mortality, Dyane Gogan Turner, a health planning administrator with the state health department, told the Columbus Dispatch.

If ever there was a region with a need to increase live-birth rates and decrease infant mortality, it is the Mahoning Valley. And yet, none of the almost $1 million that is at Ohio’s disposal has been earmarked for this area.

Earlier this year, Gov. John Kasich, reacting to the national statistics that showed the extent of the problem in the state, said, “Ohio has one of the worst infant-mortality rates in the nation, and that is simply unacceptable.”

We wholeheartedly agree with the governor, which is why we are hard-pressed to understand the state’s selection of the community-health centers.

Guidance of clinicians

According to the Dispatch, under the CenteringPregnancy program, groups of eight to 12 pregnant women join together, based on their due dates, to meet with clinicians who teach them about prenatal and post-delivery care.

“The program helps them have good social support to address how to have a healthy baby, especially during the first year of life,” Dr. Pat Gabbe, a clinical professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, told the newspaper.

Babies are most at risk during their first year.

Care, interactive learning and community building are the main pillars of the CenteringPregnancy program.

We urge Gov. Kasich, the state health department and others involved in the program in Ohio to add Mahoning County to the funding list.