Infant Mortality in Area is on the Rise

Hampton Roads

Virginia is known for being the birthplace of presidents. It’s also becoming well-known for its infant mortality rate.

The state’s infant death rate is 18th highest in the country, with 7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hampton Roads encompasses five of the cities in the state with the highest numbers of infant deaths, including Chesapeake, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.

Last year, Gov. Kaine allocated $100,000 grants to each of these cities, as well as the other five in the state with the highest infant death rates, to work on reducing these high numbers.

The city of Chesapeake has formed a coalition, organized by the Chesapeake Health Department, to work on curbing this problem throughout the city.

The coalition includes various human services and education entities, such as Eastern Virginia Medical School, the Chesapeake School District, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia, Comprehensive Health Investment Program and other organizations and individuals within the city who work closely with women at risk for experiencing infant mortality or low weight birth.

The coalition has chosen to direct much of its focus on reducing teen pregnancy rates in the city, since teens have by far the highest rates of low birth weight infants and infant mortality.

Currently, the coalition is working to form a neighborhood peer / mentoring / education group that would train volunteers in the most vulnerable Chesapeake neighborhoods.

The volunteers would educate young people about the importance of making informed decisions about sex and to consider abstinence and contraception to ensure they delay pregnancy until they are in a position to properly care for a child.

There are many factors that contribute to the infant mortality rate, including socioeconomic factors, lack of access to or utilization of quality prenatal care and teen pregnancy.

For more information on prenatal care, visit the Chesapeake Health Department Web site at http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/LHD/ Chesapeake/ or the Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia Web site at www.ppsev.org.

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