The Issue.
The infant mortality rate, the number of infants who died before their first birthday per 1,000 live births, is a reflection of the health and health care system in a country (CDC). In South Carolina in 2017, an average of 6.5 infants out of every 1,000 live births died before their first birthday – this is an improvement from the 2016 infant mortality rate of 7 per 1,000 (The Post and Courier). However, South Carolina’s rate is still higher than the national average of 5.9 and the infant mortality rates of racial and ethnic minorities and low-income families in South Carolina are even higher. According to the United Health Foundation, “the rate of infant mortality for babies born to black women is more than two times the rate for babies born to white women.” For reference, the infant mortality rate for children born to black women in South Carolina was 11.4 in 2016 and the infant mortality rate in Lee County, a rural and primarily low income area, was 21.3 in 2017 – the infant mortality rate of Syria, a war-torn and struggling country, was 14.1. With the resources available in the United States, these numbers are unacceptable.
In 2015 eight counties in South Carolina did not have a single OB/GYN. Today, Lee County (IMR = 21.3) is currently one of eleven counties in South Carolina with zero OB/GYNs and in “rural SC, it’s not unusual for pregnant women not to see a doctor at all until their delivery” (The Post and Courier). This is partly due to the difficulty of travelling to visit an OB/GYN and partly because of a mistrust of authority in low-income and rural areas (The Post and Courier).
The Solution.
There is no easy solution for infant mortality. However, there are many things that can be done to start working towards a healthier state. Research has shown that “strategies focused on the prenatal period have been successful in reducing infant mortality rates” and Donna Johnson, the head of MUSC’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, believes that “the most effective way to reduce infant mortality over the long run is a major and long-lasting public health education campaign” (The Post and Courier).
There are already a few programs in place in South Carolina working to improve the state’s infant mortality rate in part by running public health education campaigns. However, the state has made “minimal financial investment in the efforts” (The Post and Courier). Some of these programs include:
These programs, especially the ones with focused health education campaigns like the Nurse Family Partnership program, are in drastic need of financial assistance in order to expand and help more mothers have healthy pregnancies in order to reduce the infant mortality rate. While this is not a solution for infant mortality in South Carolina, it is a beginning.
The Plan.
The University of South Carolina is known for raising money for good causes – last year, USC Dance Marathon raised $1,038,156 for children at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital. I believe that creating a club on campus, Gamecocks for Mother's and Infants, that would focus on raising money to combat South Carolina's high infant mortality rates and create campaigns, under the guidance of advisers, to protect the health of mothers and infants in the state as well as the general public.
The club would be directed at public health, nursing, and pre-health professional students and would advertise to students through bulletin boards on campus, the Greene Street Organisation Fair, and advertising in current related clubs such as AED, a pre-health honors fraternity. It would allow these students an opportunity to volunteer their time and learn from their experience. It would give them real world experience at planning public health education campaigns under the guidance of public health professors - many of whom are not involved in organisations on campus due to a lack of public health oriented clubs. Many of these students plan these programs in their classes, like I did in HPEB-300, but have not had the chance to implement them. This would involve researching specific health education campaigns, finding a target population, and creating education materials such as brochures and infographics under the guidance of public health professionals. These materials would then be distributed to organisations that work with expectant mothers and families by the students. Possible campaigns include anti-smoking, importance of pre-natal health, nutrition information, and information about where individuals can find health care, especially prenatal care, near them. These education campaigns will be checked for accuracy and cultural appropriateness by public health professionals before they are implemented.
The club will also work to fund raise money through different techniques such as bake sales, t-shirt sales, and online crowdfunding. These funds will be used to pay for distribution of club-created campaigns and donations to the organisations already present in South Carolina that work to reduce infant mortality rate (listed above) such as the Nurse Family Partnership (www.nursefamilypartnership.org/locations/south-carolina/). It will also work to place students in community service professions that suit their skills and interests within the public health community in South Carolina. After the first semester, and subsequent semesters as needed, the club will evaluate the amount of funds raised and success of the campaigns - based on criticism from advisers, pre-existing organisations, and areas where the materials are distributed such as free medical clinics.
This club will not be the solution to high infant mortality rates in South Carolina. However, it is the hope that it will benefit the state, especially rural counties, and play some role in improving the rates. It will also provide an opportunity to students at USC to learn about and practice public health initiatives while educating them about a public health issue that plagues their state. If these students continue on their path to work in health roles, this education will prove vital to forming health care providers that play a role in solving this issue.
The infant mortality rate, the number of infants who died before their first birthday per 1,000 live births, is a reflection of the health and health care system in a country (CDC). In South Carolina in 2017, an average of 6.5 infants out of every 1,000 live births died before their first birthday – this is an improvement from the 2016 infant mortality rate of 7 per 1,000 (The Post and Courier). However, South Carolina’s rate is still higher than the national average of 5.9 and the infant mortality rates of racial and ethnic minorities and low-income families in South Carolina are even higher. According to the United Health Foundation, “the rate of infant mortality for babies born to black women is more than two times the rate for babies born to white women.” For reference, the infant mortality rate for children born to black women in South Carolina was 11.4 in 2016 and the infant mortality rate in Lee County, a rural and primarily low income area, was 21.3 in 2017 – the infant mortality rate of Syria, a war-torn and struggling country, was 14.1. With the resources available in the United States, these numbers are unacceptable.
In 2015 eight counties in South Carolina did not have a single OB/GYN. Today, Lee County (IMR = 21.3) is currently one of eleven counties in South Carolina with zero OB/GYNs and in “rural SC, it’s not unusual for pregnant women not to see a doctor at all until their delivery” (The Post and Courier). This is partly due to the difficulty of travelling to visit an OB/GYN and partly because of a mistrust of authority in low-income and rural areas (The Post and Courier).
The Solution.
There is no easy solution for infant mortality. However, there are many things that can be done to start working towards a healthier state. Research has shown that “strategies focused on the prenatal period have been successful in reducing infant mortality rates” and Donna Johnson, the head of MUSC’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, believes that “the most effective way to reduce infant mortality over the long run is a major and long-lasting public health education campaign” (The Post and Courier).
There are already a few programs in place in South Carolina working to improve the state’s infant mortality rate in part by running public health education campaigns. However, the state has made “minimal financial investment in the efforts” (The Post and Courier). Some of these programs include:
- Mother’s Milk Bank of South Carolina
- 39-Week Initiative
- Centering Pregnancy
- Nurse Family Partnership (a program that sends “public health nurses to regularly visit first-time mothers to teach them about healthy nutrition, diets, and behavior”)
- DHEC’s Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies (HMHB)
These programs, especially the ones with focused health education campaigns like the Nurse Family Partnership program, are in drastic need of financial assistance in order to expand and help more mothers have healthy pregnancies in order to reduce the infant mortality rate. While this is not a solution for infant mortality in South Carolina, it is a beginning.
The Plan.
The University of South Carolina is known for raising money for good causes – last year, USC Dance Marathon raised $1,038,156 for children at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital. I believe that creating a club on campus, Gamecocks for Mother's and Infants, that would focus on raising money to combat South Carolina's high infant mortality rates and create campaigns, under the guidance of advisers, to protect the health of mothers and infants in the state as well as the general public.
The club would be directed at public health, nursing, and pre-health professional students and would advertise to students through bulletin boards on campus, the Greene Street Organisation Fair, and advertising in current related clubs such as AED, a pre-health honors fraternity. It would allow these students an opportunity to volunteer their time and learn from their experience. It would give them real world experience at planning public health education campaigns under the guidance of public health professors - many of whom are not involved in organisations on campus due to a lack of public health oriented clubs. Many of these students plan these programs in their classes, like I did in HPEB-300, but have not had the chance to implement them. This would involve researching specific health education campaigns, finding a target population, and creating education materials such as brochures and infographics under the guidance of public health professionals. These materials would then be distributed to organisations that work with expectant mothers and families by the students. Possible campaigns include anti-smoking, importance of pre-natal health, nutrition information, and information about where individuals can find health care, especially prenatal care, near them. These education campaigns will be checked for accuracy and cultural appropriateness by public health professionals before they are implemented.
The club will also work to fund raise money through different techniques such as bake sales, t-shirt sales, and online crowdfunding. These funds will be used to pay for distribution of club-created campaigns and donations to the organisations already present in South Carolina that work to reduce infant mortality rate (listed above) such as the Nurse Family Partnership (www.nursefamilypartnership.org/locations/south-carolina/). It will also work to place students in community service professions that suit their skills and interests within the public health community in South Carolina. After the first semester, and subsequent semesters as needed, the club will evaluate the amount of funds raised and success of the campaigns - based on criticism from advisers, pre-existing organisations, and areas where the materials are distributed such as free medical clinics.
This club will not be the solution to high infant mortality rates in South Carolina. However, it is the hope that it will benefit the state, especially rural counties, and play some role in improving the rates. It will also provide an opportunity to students at USC to learn about and practice public health initiatives while educating them about a public health issue that plagues their state. If these students continue on their path to work in health roles, this education will prove vital to forming health care providers that play a role in solving this issue.
Citations
- https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/IMR/state/SC
- https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/infantmortality.htm
- https://www.postandcourier.com/health/sc-health-department-says-infant-mortality-shows-improvement-in/article_c018a58c-f344-11e8-9658-23087570bde0.html
- https://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/locations/south-carolina/
