INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) held its Labor of Love infant mortality summit last week as infant mortality rates rise in the Hoosier state.
The statewide 2021 infant mortality rate rose to 6.7 per 1,000 live births, up from 6.6 in 2020. The Hispanic infant mortality rate rose from 6.0 to 8.1 per 1,000 live births, while the rate for white infants fell from 5.5 to 5.4 per 1,000 live births. The rate for non-Hispanic Black infants remained at 13.2, said IDOH Commissioner Kris Box, M.D.
Box stated the data reinforce the importance of the work being done across the state to improve the maternal health of individuals before they become pregnant and to continue that care into and beyond pregnancy.
Indiana has implemented different programs to improve the health of pregnant mothers and babies:
- My Healthy Baby, the state’s OB navigator program launched in 22 counties in 2020 and will be available in all Indiana counties by mid-2023
- The Levels of Care program has certified every birthing facility for the level of maternal and infant care provided to mothers and babies
- The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) has adopted safety bundles on obstetrical hemorrhage and hypertension in pregnancy
- Grants of nearly $36 million through the IDOH Safety PIN program since 2017 to programs that work to reduce infant mortality
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