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
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premature / infant mortality
I agree with gabriellel45516. This is one more example of people wanting the government to stick its nose where it doesn't belong. When will people be held accountable for their own lives and those of their children? After all, this is still a country where we and not the government determine our lives and sometimes people make bad decisions.
Pretty soon parents will have no say in how their children are raised. Give the government an inch and it will take a mile.
Which is the greater sin?
Here are some of the nations that have lower (better) infant mortality rates than the United States: Taiwan, Cuba, Korea, Italy, Greece, Ireland, United Kingdom, Portugal, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Austria, Denmark,Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany, Czech Rep., Norway, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Hong Kong, Sweden and Singapore.
Most, if not all of these countries, have nationalized health care systems.
We in the United States socialize banks, auto, insurance and credit card companies.....other nations choose to socialize health care.
Which is the greater sin?
the umbrella
of the liberals is really, really big isn't it...
Good grief
How did all of us born in the late 50s and early 60s survive at all? Most of our mothers didn't have insurance, more than 50% of the population smoked, and "birth by appointment" (aka induced labor) was a common occurrance.
Of course there is no mention here of illegal drug use or of alcohol consumption, let alone obesity.
Why is everything such a crisis? And why are so few factors singled out?
Follow the money, follow the money.
In a country as wealthy as
In a country as wealthy as ours, with some of the finest medical hospitals, doctors, universities, this is nothing short of shameful.
....and I wonder
how many women are obese...this is a huge [no pun intended] factor in infant mortality as well. There are MANY grossly overweight women pregnant and not pregnant. Dangerous stuff for the woman and the baby.