Virginia gets a D grade for premature birth numbers

Virginia earned a D on a report card the March of Dimes released today showing how states compare on the number of babies born prematurely.

The report comes on the heels of Virginia's most recent infant mortality rates - closely linked to prematurity rates.

The state's infant mortality rate rose to 7.7 deaths per 1,000 births in 2007, up from 7.1 in 2006. That's the highest it's been in a decade.

Four cities in Hampton Roads - Chesapeake, Norfolk, Newport News and Suffolk - had poorer rates than in the previous year.

The news was disappointing for state and regional officials who have been grappling with infant mortality for years. Last year, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine allocated $1 million in grants to 10 localities - half in Hampton Roads - to find ways to reduce infant deaths.

Joan Corder-Mabe, director of women's and infants' health for the Virginia Department of Health, said state health workers will continue efforts to address the problem.

"We are not proud of our infant mortality rate. We just have not been able to drop it," Corder-Mabe said. "Obviously, we are missing something."

She said Karen Remley, state health commissioner, started meeting last month with community activists with the aim of reducing the rates.

Corder-Mabe said outreach programs such as Resource Mothers, which links experienced mothers with at-risk expectant women, have been successful in lowering infant deaths in those specific populations, but the efforts have not been widespread enough to bring down the state's rate.

March of Dimes representatives have long worked with state health officials and community leaders to fight prematurity and birth defects, leading causes of infant deaths.

The state's low grade in today's report matched the nation's. No state got an A, which would have required a premature-birth rate of 7.6 percent or less. One state, Vermont, earned a B. Eighteen states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia had failing grades.

The report - expected to be repeated annually - ranked Virginia 24th in the nation with a preterm birth rate of 12.3 percent. North Carolina received a failing grade and ranked 40th in the nation.

The most recent Kids Count study, a children's well-being report issued annually, showed Virginia 35th on infant mortality and North Carolina 44th.

Dr. Nancy Welch, director of the Chesapeake Health Department, has been analyzing that city's most recent numbers, which worsened from a rate of 7.5 deaths per 1,000 births in 2006 to 12.3 in 2007.

She said 13 of 37 infant deaths in 2007 were related to multiple births, up from only three in Chesapeake in 2006. That's a number she said she believes could be improved by connecting women in high-risk pregnancies with medical experts sooner. She said Chesapeake is teaming with other agencies to train neighborhood mentors to talk with women about the importance of early prenatal care.

Dr. David Trump, director of the Peninsula Health District, said infant mortality can fluctuate in a city from one year to the next because the numbers are small, but he said the state and region as a whole have not shown progress.

"It's something that needs steady attention," Trump said. "There are many infants who don't make it out of their first day of life, let alone their first year."

While many factors contribute to high rates of prematurity, the March of Dimes report highlighted three in Virginia:

One in six women of childbearing age in Virginia has no health insurance, and one in five smokes. Also, the percentage of births between 34 and 36 weeks of gestation, called "late preterm birth" was 8.8 percent. That figure has been rising across the country and is linked to early induction of labor and Caesarean sections.

The March of Dimes is urging more research and collection of data, increased health coverage for women of childbearing age, more smoking cessation programs, and better monitoring of inductions and Caesarean sections by hospitals and health care professionals.

Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com