Babies are little bundles of joy for everybody. They are the newest member of the family and the society. They are innocent and still wait to experience the world. However, what happens when some of them don't even live to see their first year in the world? This situation is true in Indiana. According to Indiana Daily Student, seven out of every thousand infants born in the state doesn't live to see the first 12 months of their life.
According to statistics from the Indiana Department of Health said that the state ranks the worst in the country when it comes to infant mortality rate. The state is above the national average for infant deaths and to add to that they also have higher rates of pre-term births, pre-natal smoking and there is a lower rate of pregnant women who get prenatal care for the first trimester.
Dr. Jen Walthall, deputy health commissioner for the Indiana State Health Department said that these kinds of problems are common in Indiana but not affecting the entire population. She added that Indiana can do many things to make sure that there is enough prenatal care and healthy deliveries in selected group of women. The infant mortality rate in white women in the state is much better that the national average.
The Black community's infant mortality rate is 2.6 much higher than the other group; there are more or less 15 deaths for every thousand babies born in the state. The reason for this is that there are some diseases that can lead to pre-term labor like diabetes or hypertension. These kinds of diseases are very common among black women and considered as one of the reasons to high mortality rate in their group. For the Hispanic group, it is the lack of access to health care that's being considered one of the biggest reasons.
Finally, she said that the infant mortality rate problem in not a simple problem, however the one of the things that they need to do is recognize that this problem can be fixed. She added that every death is considered tragic and most of it unavoidable, they just need to focus more on what actions or steps needed to make the situation better.
