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Tennessee: Forum takes on infant mortality

By: Emily Bregel
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Tracy Windeknecht

Babies have a higher risk of dying before their first birthday in Tennessee than in 45 other states, but far too few people realize they can reduce their risk with healthy lifestyle choices, advocates with a local nonprofit group say.

“I don’t think many people are aware that they can actually prevent infant mortality,” said 17-year-old Jasmine Ray, who is participating in Girls Inc. of Chattanooga’s project to spotlight the problem of infant mortality. “They think it’s something that just happens, but with (better) choices you can actually help prevent it and save babies’ lives.”

As part of a state-sponsored media campaign on infant mortality, Girls Inc. of Chattanooga members and local experts will host a town hall meeting today from 1-4 p.m. at Olivet Baptist Church. Girls Inc. is a nonprofit group dedicated to supporting girls and helping them make healthy lifestyle choices.

“Really, what we want to do is empower community members to step up and take hold of the issue and begin doing what they can to help,” said Jeannette Sebes McDonald, infant mortality reduction coordinator with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department. Ms. McDonald will be one of the panelists at the meeting.

Using a $58,853 grant from the Governor’s Office of Children’s Care Coordination, Girls Inc. members have been meeting since February, planning the public awareness campaign to spread the word about the issue.

The teen participants have created a number of television, print and radio public service announcements, including one in Spanish, intended to convey the severity of the problem of infant mortality, said Tracy Windeknecht, manager of special projects with Girls Inc.

A Nashville-based filmmaker chronicled the awareness efforts of the local teens, as well as youth in Memphis and Nashville, in a documentary that was premiered in Chattanooga on Thursday evening, Ms. Windeknecht said.

The causes, and therefore the solutions, to infant mortality are complex, said Ms. McDonald. The local health department launched a concerted effort to decrease infant mortality rates in early 2007, she noted.

“It’s one of the public health issues that’s more multilayered than others,” but proper nutrition and prenatal care are critical, she said. “More and more of the focus has become the health of the woman before she’s ever pregnant.”

At the town hall, Ms. McDonald will discuss some of the ways to reduce the risk of infant mortality, such as a healthy lifestyle free from smoking and drinking, a nutritious diet and a good relationship with one’s doctor.

Black babies are disproportionately affected by infant mortality, data shows. In Tennessee, black infants are 2.5 times more likely to die within the first year of life than white infants, according to the Tennessee Department of Heath.

The overall infant mortality rate in Hamilton County is 11.2, higher than the statewide rate of 8.7, Ms. McDonald said.

Ms. Ray, a senior at the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, emphasized the commitment of the students who are involved in Girls Inc.’s media campaign project.

“We won’t stop until we actually lower the rates,” she said. “This isn’t something we’re doing because we’re kids and need to pass the time. ... It’s actually something we’re doing because it needs to be done.”

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