The infant mortality rate in North Carolina has hit a record low, state officials said Tuesday, attributing the improvement to investing in public health programs which help women of child-bearing age.
The figures show there were seven infant deaths for every 1,000 live births in the state last year, the lowest rate recorded since state records began, reports the Charlotte Observer.
The number fell from 2009’s 7.9 percent, and part of the decrease came from the particularly sharp 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,” state Health Director Dr. Jeff Engel said.
“This progress is a direct result of long-term, sustained investments in promising programs to reduce infant deaths and eliminate disparities in birth outcomes,” Engel said, the Charlotte Observer reports.
The Healthy Beginnings program is aimed at promoting practices like breastfeeding, safe sleeping, smoking cessation and other methods to help ensure healthy births.
Furthermore, the state has four federally-funded Healthy Start projects in 15 counties that are primarily focused on blacks and American Indians.
The new data brings Carolina close to the national average of 6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, a major improvement from 1988, when the state ranked first nationwide in infant mortality, according to the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation.
Some child advocates warned Tuesday that the progress made since then could be lost because of budget changes made by state lawmakers this year, reports the Charlotte Observer.
They worry The Health and Wellness Trust Fund and a state grant to a clinic at East Carolina University specializing in high-risk pregnancies will be cut.
“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.
Despite the overall positive data, Laila Bell, director of research and data at Action for Children North Carolina, is concerned about the black infant mortality figure, Myrtle Beach Sun News reports.
The black infant death rate, 12.7 per 1,000 births, is more than twice the white rate, which is 5.3.
“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,” Bell said, reports Myrtle Beach Sun News.
