The stories beneath the data: teen moms

At Cradle Cincinnati, improving data around pregnancy is absolutely central to our work. This is the fifth in a series of posts about how data can help drive healthy change for Hamilton County.THE DATA:The average age of the moms in our community who lost a baby in 2013 was 26 years old*.THE STORY BENEATH THE DATA:We hear it all the time.  When people learn about our high infant mortality rate, they immediately assume that most of the deaths are from teenage moms. We’ve been conditioned to think of teen pregnancy as THE problem.  In fact, the teen pregnancy rate is at an all time low, but our country and our city continue to have high rates of infant deaths.  In 2013, only 6% of our local deaths were to moms under the age of 20 – the same percentage that were to moms over 35.Infant mortality is an issue that refuses to fit into stereotypes. We need to understand who these women are if we want to serve their needs. This is not, in large part, a teen mom issue.  It’s not always an issue affecting first time, inexperienced parents. Second and third time moms can have even worse outcomes than first time moms because issues like increased stress and short pregnancy spacing can be present. It is important that we educate and engage all moms, not just those we perceive to be the most vulnerable.A DEEPER LOOK:So, who are these women? In 2013, the “average” woman who lost a baby was 26 years old.  She was most likely to live in Westwood (10.5%) or Forest Park (11.6%), but could have come from any one of a variety of very diverse neighborhoods. She was more likely to identify as African American than any other race. She was slightly overweight (mean BMI of 29.3) which is a risk factor for preterm birth and other complications. She was more likely to be insured by Medicaid than private insurance.*Of course, there was no “average” mom. There were 95 distinct women who mourned the loss of their child in 2013. Some of them may have fallen into a stereotype of who we’d expect to suffer this loss. They deserve better. Some of them were the exact opposite of that stereotype. They deserve better too.  Each of them wanted the best for her child. Together, we can help next year’s moms thrive.*Fetal and Infant Mortality Review