Health and Family

Infant Mortality

Infant Mortality

The infant mortality rate reflects the quality of prenatal and birth care available to both children and mothers. Virginia's infant mortality rate is higher than the national average, although the Commonwealth ranks 13th among the states for prenatal care. Virginia is addressing this complex problem via a range of approaches, from researching the causes of infant mortality to promoting healthy prenatal care among at-risk populations.

Why is This Important?

Infant mortality is defined by the number of infant deaths (before age one) per 1,000 live births and is an indication of the quality and accessibility of prenatal care for pregnant women. (Infant mortality is also a leading factor in determining whether the federal government designates a city or a county as medically underserved and eligible for certain benefits.) The infant mortality rate is a critical indicator in the overall health and welfare of a nation.

How is Virginia Doing?

In 2006 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranked Virginia's infant mortality rate the 22nd highest in the nation, with 7.5 deaths per 1,000 live births; this was an improvement from 2005's rank of 16th highest. Virginia's rates were greater than the national average of 6.7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, but lower than North Carolina (8.1), Tennessee (8.7), and Maryland (8.0). The state of Washington had the lowest mortality rate in the nation at 4.7 infant deaths.

Virginia ranked 13th out of the 50 states in terms of adequacy of prenatal care in 2006, with 74.2 percent of pregnant women receiving care in the first trimester.

According to Virginia’s Department of Health, the state’s 2007 infant mortality rate was 7.7.  The Northern region had the lowest rate of infant deaths at 5.9, while the Eastern region had the highest rate at 11.3 deaths per 1,000 live births.

What Influences Infant Mortality?

Socioeconomic Factors:  Communities with high rates of poverty, substandard housing, illiteracy, exposure to alcohol or illicit drugs and to pollutants such as cigarette smoke, paint, lead and asbestos.

Physical Causes:  Congenital malformations; disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight; sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); maternal complications; maternal substance abuse; cord and placental complications; accidents; respiratory distress of newborn; bacterial sepsis of newborn; neonatal hemorrhage; intrauterine hypoxia and birth asphyxia; and maternal age.

What is the State's Role?

The Healthy Virginians 2010 objective is to reduce the infant mortality rate to no more than seven deaths per 1,000 live births. To get there, Virginia is working to eliminate disparities among racial and ethnic groups with infant mortality rates above the national average. Public health agencies continue to monitor infant mortality trends for all racial and ethnic groups, and are focusing on modifying the behaviors, lifestyles and conditions that affect birth outcomes, such as smoking, substance abuse, poor nutrition, lack of prenatal care, medical problems and chronic illness.

Substantial investments have been made in health services delivery to reduce disparities in access to health care. The plan to reduce infant mortality rates includes:

• creating a network between health care experts and minority communities to educate and encourage healthy behaviors in pregnant women and parents;
• participating in national research on SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) to identify at-risk infants more precisely and create effective interventions.

The federally funded Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program provides supplemental nutrition, nutrition education and counseling, breast feeding support, and referrals to health and other social services at no charge.

Family planning services are provided in all local health departments across the state.  They serve females of all ages; males may access more limited reproductive health services.