OHIO — Significant strides have been made in the efforts to reduce infant mortality rates in Cincinnati in the last decade.
There are still a lot of hurdles as communities and organizations work together to make an impact. Dr. Meredith Shockley-Smith, executive director of Cradle Cincinnati, said Hamilton County is at its lowest mortality rate with “6.4, and that’s 10 fewer babies dying that died last year than the year before, so we’re celebrating that.”
Yet, at the same time, Shockley-Smith added, “You are more likely to lose your baby with a college education if you are a Black woman than you are if you are a white woman without a high school diploma.”
One of the most important things to address when it comes to addressing infant mortality rates is education. That includes education around the protection of babies when they sleep, from the type of bedding to the way babies should be placed in a crib. That’s why they are listening to families, partnering with the Hamilton County Health Department, the Cincinnati Health Department and commissioners to see how those voices can be used to create interventions that are sustainable.
