Bring It On! – October 02, 2023: African-American Maternal and Infant Mortality (Rebroadcast)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:00 — 33.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

This program was originally aired June 26, 2023:

On today’s edition of Bring It On!, hosts, Clarence Boone and Liz Mitchell are joined by Sierra Lee and Samantha Kirby. They are here to discuss the July 15th Nurse Family Partnership’s Maternal and Infant Advocacy event. Sierra is the organizer and is an intern this summer with the partnership. Samantha Kirby is a communication consultant with Indiana University Health. The purpose of this event is to inform individuals of the health care disparities amongst minority pregnant women. An overarching goal is also to educate women of color on how they can advocate for themselves when in a healthcare setting.

As defined by the Centers for Disease Control, infant mortality is the death of an infant before his or her first birthday. The infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths for every 1,000 live births. In addition to providing critical information about maternal and infant health, the infant mortality rate is an important marker of the overall health of a society.

In 2020, the infant mortality rate in the United States was 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births. In 2019, the infant mortality rate in Non-Hispanic Black communities was 10.6%, while the rate for Non-Hispanic White communities was 4.5% The Healthy People 2030 initiative sets data-driven national objectives to improve health and well-being over the next decade. While rates of infant mortality are trending to desired levels, in communities of color, women and children are still inordinately dying in childbirth, and their deaths seem to be invisible.

Credits:
Today’s hosts are Clarence Boone and Liz Mitchell.
Bring It On’s Executive Producer is Clarence Boone.
Our Assistant Producer is Liz Mitchell.
The Show Consultant and WFHB News Department Director is Kade Young.
The Program Engineer is Chantalle LaFontant.
The original theme music was created by Jamyl Efiom, with additional background tracks by David Baker.