CelebrateOne Moves Forward on Numerous Infant Mortality Task Force Recommendations
News Release
For Immediate Release
July 13, 2015
CelebrateOne Moves Forward on
Numerous Infant Mortality Task Force Recommendations
CelebrateOne.info provides
one-stop resources for mothers, families and caregivers
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nearly one year after the Greater Columbus
Infant Mortality Task Force issued its recommendations to reduce central Ohio’s
infant mortality rate, community leaders today delivered a status report on the
work that has been initiated and new resources that will be available to
families.
“It is about an entire community, including
political and educational leaders, medical experts, social workers, safety
personnel and others all working toward a common goal to reduce infant
mortality,” said Columbus City Council President Andrew Ginther. “Now is the
time to put our work into action because it’s not enough that our children
survive, they must thrive.”
The goal for
CelebrateOne, set forth by Ginther, is to reduce the rate of infant
mortality in Columbus/Franklin County by nearly 40 percent, from the 2011
benchmark rate of 9.8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births to 6 per 1,000, and
cut the racial disparity gap between white and black infants in half.
“This
entire effort got started because of the realization that 150 babies in our
community die each year without ever reaching their first birthday,”
CelebrateOne Director Liane Egle said. “We know that it will be several years
before we are able to see a substantial change in that number but at the same
time we have made important progress that we are confident will bear fruit and
keep babies safer and healthier.”
Work accomplished to date by CelebrateOne
and its 10 partner organizations that were identified as Lead Entities in the
Task Force’s report.
- Doctors are now prohibited from scheduling a
delivery prior to 39-weeks gestation without a medical reason, in an effort to
ensure babies are not born too soon. The Central Ohio Hospital Council, working
with each of the delivery hospitals in Franklin County, enacted standards to
prohibit these early elective deliveries. These standards have been
incorporated as policy at each of the hospitals: Mount Carmel Health Systems, OhioHealth, and
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
- The Franklin County Department of Job and Family
Services has increased the number of women of childbearing age enrolled in Medicaid
by 5 percent and increased the number of pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid by
15 percent. By focusing on women, particularly those who reside within the
eight priority neighborhoods where infant mortality is the highest, the
Department is ensuring more women have access to both primary care and critical
prenatal
care services.
- Columbus Public Health has distributed more than
450 portable cribs to families who would otherwise not be able to afford one,
ensuring those children have a safe place to sleep alone and on their backs.
- In coordination with Columbus Public Health’s
ongoing public awareness campaigns about the ABCs (Alone, on their Back in
an empty Crib) of safe sleep,
CelebrateOne will launch a Safe Sleep Awareness Ambassador Program. Any person
interested in learning the ABCs of safe sleep will be able to attend a
training, learn about safe sleep practices and be provided with resources that
they can share with their families, friends, colleagues and neighbors.
- PrimaryOne Health became one of only four
federally qualified health centers in Ohio to be awarded funds to pilot an
evidence-based centering pregnancy program to provide small group and
one-on-one support for new moms. The project integrates maternal care,
education and support to improve birth outcomes and infant health to women from
high-risk areas.
- A key focus for CelebrateOne is to provide
women, moms to be and families with the resources they need for healthy
pregnancies and healthy babies. CelebrateOne.info was developed as a
centralized hub where these resources can now be found. The site has three
primary areas of focus: resources for moms and moms to be, resources for
healthy babies and resources for healthy communities. CelebrateOne.info
contains a host of information and links, everything from where a woman can
enroll in prenatal care, the ABCs of safe sleep, profiles of each of the high
priority neighborhoods and much more.
“Community leaders play a critical role in making sure that everyone has
a voice and is part of the solution, and ensuring that we are getting this
information into the hands of mothers, fathers, grandparents and caregivers,” said
Erika Clark Jones, director of community strategies for CelebrateOne, said. “We are actively
seeking partnerships with organizations and individuals in our neighborhoods to
help us communicate in a way we never have before.”
CelebrateOne was created in 2014 to implement the Greater Columbus
Infant Mortality Task Force recommendations to address the most significant factors
that contribute to central Ohio’s high infant mortality rate:
- Babies born too small or too soon
- Sleep-related deaths
- Exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy and
secondhand smoke in their early days of life
- Health inequities
CelebrateOne is proud to partner with the following organizations to
move this work forward: the Central Ohio Hospital Council; Columbus City
Council; Columbus Department of Development; Columbus Public Health; Franklin
County Board of Commissioners; Franklin County Family and Children First
Council; Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services; Ohio Department
of Medicaid; Ohio Better Birth Outcomes Collaborative; and Partners for Kids.
-30-