Infant mortality rises in the District
The Annie E. Casey Foundation released its annual Kids Count report on indicators of childhood well being this week and the news is decidedly mixed for young children in the District.
On one hand, many indicators of childhood well being showed improvement since 2000, including the percentage of low-birth weight babies, mortality rates for children ages 1-14, and the percentage of children living in poverty (down 13%, but still frighteningly high at 26% of all children) or in single-parent households. But during that time, infant mortality rates spiked by 9% to 13.1 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.
Infant mortality was highest in Ward 8 at 20 deaths per 1,000 live births. In wealthy Ward 3, the rate was 4.3 per 1,000 births. Clearly, something is amiss. As a city, we are not doing enough to support expectant low-income mothers to ensure they have healthy pregnancies and successful births.
Just last week I attended the meeting of the District's Home Visiting Council, made up of representatives of social service providers catering to new and expectant mothers and working to decrease teenage pregnancy rates. Just like other nonprofits supporting struggling families in the District, they are anxious about funding in this tight budget environment. This stark finding in a report card that otherwise shows remarkable progress is an unfortunate reminder of the life-and-death necessity of their services.
Healthy child development begins in utero, and that means we must support expectant mothers through proven prenatal outreach, including home visitation programs. We must urge our future mayor and D.C. Council to make it a priority to turn around this ghastly trend.
Click here to see D.C.'s annual Kids Count report card.
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Phone: 202-234-9404 Email: dcaction@dckids.org
2010 DC Action for Children
Tamara -- We hope to
Tamara --
We hope to continue to highlight all the progress and successes we have seen here in the District. It is so easy to forget all the accomplishments and progress but we agree -- we must celebrate our successes as we continue to work to ensure children have have a nurturing, warm, loving environment to learn and grow. Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
While it is right for us to
While it is right for us to bemoan the spike in the infant mortality rate since 2000, I am delighted that this account starts out with the success. It sometimes feels that we forget to celebrate the progress that has been made through the work of thousands of child advocates, service providers and parents. When I worked on infant mortality issues in the early 1990s, the infant mortality rate in the District was 20 and the low birthweight rate was 15.2. Congratulations to everyone who played a part in the improvements that we now see. We still have a long way to go, but my hat is off to all of you who are making a difference.