“Most of us know or have heard about an infant’s death in our community… we see the need for the communities to know what is going on and how (they) can work for change.”
– Elaine Harris-Fulton, Family Support Parent Leader
Allegheny County has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the United States. According to data from 2010 from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the National Center for Health Statistics, the infant mortality rate (the proportion of infants born alive who die within the first year of life) in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area was 17% higher than the national average. Additionally, African-American babies are much more likely to die here than in other regions. In Allegheny County, the African-American infant mortality rate was 14.5 deaths per 1000 births; that is 25% higher than the national average, and more than double the rate for white babies.
The high infant mortality rate is likely attributable to the fact that “mothers aren’t engaging in healthy behaviors during pregnancy and because many mothers don’t have adequate resources to care for their babies after birth,” says Harold D. Miller, president of Future Strategies LLC and adjunct professor of public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, in an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from July 7, 2013. Miller says, “Too many babies in Pittsburgh are born to mothers who smoke during and after pregnancy.” Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health indicate that, in 2010, 1 in 6 mothers in the Pittsburgh region smoked throughout their pregnancy, a rate 25% higher than the national average—and in the rural counties surrounding Pittsburgh, the rate is even higher at 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 mothers. Plus, according to Miller, babies born to teen mothers are at greatest risk because teen mothers are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors such as smoking. And in Pittsburgh, nearly one out of five African-American babies are born to teenage mothers—the highest proportion among the top 40 metropolitan areas in the country.
As an important voice for families in our area, the Family Support Network has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the infant mortality crisis and help new mothers access information and supports. As the first aspect of the campaign, parent leaders from across the network have launched a poster contest. Each of the 25 Family Support Centers is encouraged to start a dialogue about infant mortality and create a poster that is eye-catching and informative. Posters will be reviewed by a committee of parents and staff as well as an outside focus group. The winning poster will be reproduced and distributed to all Centers and the media.
One of the architects behind the infant mortality campaign is Elaine Harris-Fulton, a veteran parent leader at the Wilkinsburg Family Support Center, member of the Family Support Policy Board Executive Committee and the chair of Community Voices. Elaine says, “Most of us are in shock to hear about the high rate of infant mortality and we are thinking about… how to get such an important message out that will be a call for action throughout Allegheny County.”
Elaine agreed to answer some questions about the infant mortality poster contest:
Why has Family Health Services decided to take on this issue?
“As parent leaders in the Family Support Network, we look at the issues that impact children and families and we work to figure out what we can do to resolve or have an impact on the issues. The high rate of infant mortality affects us all. Most of us know or have heard about an infant’s death in our community and we see the need for the communities to know what is going on and how they or the community can work for change.”
What does the Family Health Services Network hope to accomplish through this poster contest?
“We are looking at the poster contest as a catalyst that starts the community conversation about infant mortality, which will lead to what we can do individually and as a community to lower the numbers of infant deaths. We hope to raise awareness about Pittsburgh’s high rates of teen pregnancy and smoking during pregnancy, as well as other factors that lead to a higher rate of infant deaths.”
What is the review committee looking for in a successful poster?
“In general it first of all must be informative. It must talk to those individuals that may engage in risky behaviors and it must be an eye catcher.”
Beyond the poster contest, what can pregnant mothers, healthcare and human
services providers, and community members do to reduce infant deaths in
our county?
“Beyond the posters we must keep the conversation going. The posters are a start in the direction we need to go. We must all also look at other ways to get to the people who are engaging in the risky behavior and work with them. That is where the Family Health Services Network and other healthcare and human service providers can come in and provide information and resources. We need parents and pregnant moms who are engaging in the right behaviors to be the foot soldiers that will spread the message about why the infant mortality rate is so high and telling people what they can do to help lower it.”