Health & Community
Fetal Deaths Rise as Infant Deaths Fall in Northwest Florida
Healthy Start’s Allyson Anderson calls the new state numbers “a tale of two cities” and explains what her team is doing about both.
Earlier this week, I report on the state’s new annual report on infant and fetal mortality report, and Escambia County’s region has good news and bad news in it.
- Fetal mortality rose from 4.4 to 5.7 per 1,000 births.
- Infant mortality fell from 6.9 to 6.1 per 1,000 births, though the region remains above the state average.
I sat down on the podcast with Allyson Anderson of Healthy Start, the coalition that tracks these numbers and works to move them.
“A tale of two cities, if you will.” Allyson Anderson on the new state report
Why the report matters. Healthy Start exists to help expectant mothers and their babies, working with partners across Escambia County.
What Healthy Start does. The program was formed in 1992 as a statewide effort. There are 32 Healthy Starts across Florida, each focused on a healthy start for every baby, with particular emphasis on reducing fetal and infant mortality, low birth weight and prematurity. The core of the work is home visiting, coordinated by registered nurses at the local Department of Health. Healthy Start also reviews every death, which helps spot trends.
The Hardest Numbers
Unintentional causes. Unintentional causes of infant death came in at nearly 13% in the report. Anderson said those include drownings, car accidents and accidental suffocation, such as a baby placed in an unsafe sleep space with blankets and pillows, or an exhausted parent who falls asleep with the baby.
A stark disparity. Anderson stressed that the community should understand the gap behind the averages. A Black or brown baby’s infant mortality rate is nearly three times as high as that of a white baby.
“A tale of two cities, if you will.” Allyson Anderson on the new state report
Reducing Unintentional Deaths
- Safe sleep: Healthy Start provides a Pack N Play to any family who asks, paid for through fundraising.
- Car seats: A seat installed by a certified technician is available to anyone who asks. Anderson said parents show up at the office a few times a month carrying a baby with no safe seat.
- Safe swim: Programming runs during swim season.
A Doula Program Is Coming
The grant. At its most recent meeting, the Escambia Children’s Trust awarded Healthy Start $124,000 per year for three years to launch a doula program in the community. Anderson said her team was thrilled. The program is something Healthy Start has wanted to do for years.
What a doula is. Anderson described a doula as a non-medical trained person in the community who provides educational, emotional and physical support to a woman who is pregnant, has newly delivered, or is within a year of postpartum.
- Educational: helping a mother understand what is happening during pregnancy and after birth.
- Emotional: offering steady support through a stressful time.
- Physical: hands-on help for a mother who is pregnant or has just delivered.
Why Healthy Start wants it. When I asked why a doula helps, Anderson pointed to the research. One of the biggest indicators of maternal and infant health is maternal stress and anxiety. The goal is that babies are born as healthy as possible, with fewer of the preterm births and low birth weight births the community sees now.
How it fits the mission. Reducing low birth weight and prematurity is part of what Healthy Start was created to do, along with reducing fetal and infant mortality. The doula program adds a new kind of support alongside the nurse-coordinated home visiting that Anderson called the core of the organization’s work.
Want help? Healthy Start wants to hear from families, and its services cover the time before birth through age three. Call 850-696-2291.
