Maternal and Infant Health Trends from our 2019 Annual Report

Today, we released our annual report covering 2019 Hamilton County maternal and infant health data. You can dive into the data in the report itself. In this blog post, we’ll give you an overview of the biggest trends we noticed.

Hamilton County Overall Infant Mortality Rate Stable in 2019; Black Infant Mortality Improved Sharply to Best Rate on Record

96 babies died before their first birthday in Hamilton County in 2019, three more than in 2018, when the county reached an all time low. With 10,601 births, the infant mortality rate for 2019 was 9.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, a rate consistent with the previous five years.

Hamilton County, however, saw 14 fewer Black infant deaths in 2019—a 24% decrease in Black infant mortality compared to the previous five years. This is the fewest number of Black infant deaths on record in Hamilton County and comes as a community of partners is focused squarely on improving a longstanding racial disparity in birth outcomes. The improvement was driven entirely by a steep drop in the rate of Black babies born before 23 weeks gestation, an age that prohibits survival. This early preterm birth rate fell by nearly half in 2019.

Black Infant Mortality Remains the Focus Because Black Birth Outcomes Still Lag Behind

Despite significant improvement in 2019 outcomes for Black babies, a review of five-year data reveals the strong need to continue to focus local efforts on Black outcomes. 

Other racial categories—including non-Hispanic White, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian—saw slight upticks in the number of infant deaths in 2019. These changes were not statistically significant. And, longer term trends remain clear.

For more than 50 years, Black infant mortality has occurred at two to three times the rate of other populations. We need to press on until outcomes are truly equitable.

Why Black Deaths Fell

Trend 1: Black preterm birth-related deaths fell. The leading cause of infant death is extreme preterm birth. In 2019, Black babies born before the end of their mother’s second trimester fell in Hamilton County, driving the overall decrease in infant deaths.

Trend 2: Improvement was concentrated in a few key neighborhoods.

More than half of recent improvements in preterm birth came from three communities: Price Hill, Avondale and Villages at Roll Hill. Each of these communities had unique teams of healthcare and social service partners working intensively with families through Cradle Cincinnati Connections. This work, funded by bi3, the State of Ohio and the US Health Resources and Services Administration, is now being spread to 12 communities throughout Hamilton County.

Trend 3: A community of partners, led by Black women, has rallied around improving disparity. 

Long-awaited positive trends in Black infant mortality only happened because an entire community of partners have rallied around this cause.

• Prenatal care systems have undergone implicit bias training and are redesigning their care to better serve the needs of Black women. 
• A wide network of social service providers has partnered with the Ohio Department of Medicaid to prioritize reducing Black infant deaths. 
• Public health departments have made reducing racial disparity in birth outcomes central to their strategic plans. 
• Organizations not traditionally seen as focused on health, such as Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, have stepped into leadership on this issue.   

Many of these efforts have been led by Black women. This summer, Cradle Cincinnati will be highlighting the stories of nine of these women on our blog and social media. Black women in Hamilton County who are interested in getting involved in developing solutions are encouraged to participate in Queens Village, a community of powerful Black women of childbearing age who come together to relax, re-power and take care of each other. Learn more at cradlecincinnati.org/queensvillage.

Community members are invited to help acknowledge those involved in this positive change using the hashtag #ThankYouCincinnati.

You can view 2019 Hamilton County maternal and infant health data here.