TOLEDO, Ohio — The Lucas County Health Department has released new data regarding infant mortality, which shows that after a couple years of moving in the right direction, the number of infants who died before their first birthday climbed in 2023.
"When I first looked at these, I'm not going to lie, I was like 'what are we doing?'" Interim director of the Lucas County Health Department, Shannon Jones said.
Jones said preliminary data show 50 babies died before turning 1 in 2023. That's six more than 2022 and seven more than in 2021.
"We were doing so well. We were trending in a good direction. We were re-grouping after COVID so now it's like, 'what is going on?'"
Those 50 deaths in 2023 bring the infant mortality rate in the county to 11 deaths per 1,000 live births and when broken down by race and ethnicity, the rate is nearly three times higher for black babies than white.
Across the state, in 2021, the latest year for which statistics are available, Ohio's infant mortality rate was 7 deaths per 1,000 births.
Overall, Jones said the leading cause of infant deaths is prematurity.
"Whether mom is a smoker, she's not getting her prenatal visits in, she may have some chronic diseases at play. Whether that's high blood pressure, obesity, etcetera. That's all going to contribute to these babies being born pre-term," Jones said.
The health department offers a number of wrap-around services, one of which is the safe sleep program.
Health Educator Vanessa Ladriye said through the safe sleep program, parents and caregivers learn the 12 steps of safe sleep, which includes the ABC's.
"Alone, back and clutter-free crib," Ladriye said.
Ladriye said following these steps can reduce SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, by up to 50 percent.
"Contacting the health department, you can get a free pack and play from us and it comes with a little bassinet for any expecting families at 32 weeks all the way to four months of age," Ladriye said. "They're eligible to receive a pack and play. Also your grandparent or babysitter. "
Jones said the county's WIC program has also been proven to reduce infant deaths. So with resources available, Jones said it's about getting expectant families connected and about looking at the full picture.
"We need to start looking at moms and dads and the lifestyles that are being led," Jones said. "How about access to care? I mean, there are so many variables that can certainly play into this."
Jones said the Infant Mortality Review Committee meets quarterly to review individual coroner's reports to do a deep dive into what led to the death and figure out what could have been done to prevent it.
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