OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s chart-busting infant mortality rate has fallen, dropping to its lowest point since 2007, an official with the Oklahoma State Department of Health said last week.
Joyce Marshall, director of Maternal and Child Health Service at OSDH, said the state continues to take positive steps to decrease infant deaths through the work of many dedicated partners, individuals and families.
Considered one of the highest mortality rates in the country, the Sooner State’s infant mortality rate has decreased over the past decade, a study from the Oklahoma State Medical Association noted.
That study reported there were 6.2 infant deaths for 1,000 live births among non-Hispanic whites. The rate fell to 5.9% for infants in non-Hispanic Asian-Pacific Islander families.
However, while records show a decrease in the number of infant deaths, the state still recorded some of the highest infant mortality rates among non-Hispanic Blacks, with a rate of 13.9 deaths per 1000 births.
The state’s overall rate for 2016 stood at 7.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Marshall said programs designed to decrease the number of infant deaths, which launched in 2007, have helped bring the rate down.
“This means over 75 more babies a year in Oklahoma get to spend their first birthday with their families,” Marshall said in a media statement.
Health department officials said the decrease was the result of multiple programs including Preparing for a Lifetime: It’s Everyone’s Responsibility, a statewide infant mortality reduction program initiated over a decade ago.
The initiative, Marshall said, includes numerous strategies designed to improve birth outcomes and reduce disparities for Oklahoma’s mothers and babies.
Other programs which encourage women who are of reproductive age to take a multivitamin daily containing 400 mcg of folic acid to help prevent birth defects have also proven successful.
Health officials said the goals of reaching a full-term pregnancy and breastfeeding the infant offer a baby the best start in life.
In its study, the OSMA said leading causes of infant deaths were prematurity, congenital malformations and/or chromosomal anomalies, and unclassified deaths such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or accidents.
“Prematurity accounts for the highest number of infant deaths,” the study said. “While some anomalies can be prevented, some will remain. Efforts to prevent infant mortality focus on prematurity prevention and SIDS prevention.”
Premature births, those which happen prior to 37 weeks gestation, are a consistent problem in Oklahoma, the OSMA study said. “In 2016, Oklahoma’s preterm birth rate was 10.7% of live births, ranking the state 10th in the nation for preterm birth. During 2012–2016, preterm-related conditions accounted for 34.2% of Oklahoma infant deaths.”
Preterm birth is 39% higher in the African American community, which has a preterm birth rate of 14.7% of live births.
“Prematurity, and issues related to prematurity, is the largest contributor to infant mortality in the African American community,” the study said.
Still, even with numbers that remain consistently high, Marshall said officials were pleased by the drop in the number of infant deaths.
“As we continue to improve in critical areas such as breastfeeding, smoking, infant safe sleep practices and prenatal care, we are encouraged by the reduction in infant mortality,” she said. “We acknowledge that there is still work to be done, but we are pleased that more Oklahoma babies are surviving through their first year of life.”