Last Week's Meeting
Elena Rossi, MD, the Medical Director of Special Projects for Akron Children’s Hospital, knows we can do much better to improve the rates of infant mortality in our community and advance maternal health. Most of her career, in fact, has been spent trying to ensure better birth outcomes for our littlest and most vulnerable citizens.
Her efforts are paying off, at least in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. While our infant mortality rates are not good, the disparity between white babies and babies of color has improved and is trending in a positive direction. Sadly, Ohio has been in the bottom 10 states in the US with poor birth outcomes. In the last few years, however, there has been some progress.
According to Dr. Rossi, two-thirds of infant mortality is due to premature births, while some are due to sleep-related issues. Sleep related deaths are mostly preventable, and Dr. Rossi is a champion of safe sleep education for new parents. While finding the cause of sleep-related SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is ongoing, one third of those deaths are preventable by using safe sleep practices.
Several programs and initiatives have been developed to help prevent infant mortality.
The Centering Pregnancy program through Mercy Health provides prenatal care, postnatal care, breastfeeding services and parent education. Tobacco cessation programs as well as carbon monoxide education programs are taken into the community to reach as many women as possible. The My Baby’s First coalition seeks to improve infant mortality rates in Mahoning County and Youngtown, and eliminate birth outcome inequities.
CAN YOU HELP?
In other news, volunteers are needed to join the House Committee. Members arrive about 45 minutes prior to our weekly meetings to set up the room, then stay after to put everything away. Contact President Sharon if you are interested.
