Maternal and Infant Health Trends from Our 2020 Annual Report

Today, we released our annual report covering 2020 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 Infant Mortality Plummets to a Record Low

76 babies died before their first birthday in 2020 in Hamilton County, 20 fewer than in 2019 and the fewest by far since modern record keeping began in 1968. With 10,314 births, the infant mortality rate for 2020 was 7.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, an 18% decline from the 2015-2019 rate of infant death and a record low.

Local Black Infant Mortality Reaches All Time Low for 2^nd Year in a Row

In 2020, 36 Black babies died in Hamilton County, a rate of 10.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. With a 42% decline since 2017, these numbers are now at all-time lows for the 2^nd year in a row. This also represents the first time since 1994 that Hamilton County’s Black infant mortality rate has been lower than the national average, currently 10.8. 

Despite significant improvement in 2020 outcomes for Black babies, there continues to be a strong need to continue to focus local efforts on Black outcomes. Even these greatly improved rates are still at more than twice that of all other racial categories. 

Preterm Birth-Related Deaths Fell Sharply

The leading cause of infant death is extreme preterm birth, defined as a baby born before the end of their mother’s second trimester. With a community of partners strategically aligned around lowering this driver of infant death, total deaths due to preterm birth cause fell nearly in half since 2017 with just 34 in 2020. The improvement was led by improvements in Black extreme preterm birth-related deaths, which are now one-third of what they were just seven years ago. 

Sleep-Related Infant Deaths Are On The Rise

While most of the news in today’s report is positive, sleep-related infant deaths rose to a recent high in 2020. Infants sleep safest alone, on their backs and in cribs. Anything else puts them at risk for a sleep-related death. The most common cause of sleep-related death is suffocation when an adult shares a sleep surface with an infant and rolls over on the child. In 2020, 21 Hamilton County infants died from a sleep-related cause.

In response, Hamilton County Job and Family Services and Cradle Cincinnati launched a comprehensive new, multi-partner campaign to promote safe sleep. This campaign includes billboards, bus and digital ads, community giveaways and a website packed with resources, information and tips for local families.  

Week-Long Virtual Summit on Maternal and Child Health Taking Place Now

Community members are invited to join us at Cradling Cincinnati: A Virtual Experience on Maternal and Infant Health this week. The event, running from April 19-24^th, includes more than a dozen virtual events on topics related to the health of moms and babies in Cincinnati. Community members can view the agenda and register for free at hopin.com/events/cradling-cincinnati-2021. 

You can view 2020 Hamilton County maternal and infant health data here.