Health of our babies begins to improve, but work remains

One of the principle measures of the health and well-being of a community is the health and well-being of its infants.

By most measures, our community is doing well. Martin County is at a 15-year low for the percentage of our babies born preterm or at a low birth weight, and we already have met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Healthy People 2020 goals in these areas. The infant mortality rate is at its lowest since 2011.

Performance in these areas is critical. When an infant is born full-term or at a healthy birth weight, considerable cost and risk is avoided. First-year medical costs for a preterm baby average at $49,000 – eight times that for a full-term delivery. And infants born preterm are at greater risk to be behind in reading and math at fourth grade than those born full-term. We see this illustrated in Martin County's data.

While we have made considerable gains in these areas, the gains have not been shared equally across all groups. White and Hispanic birth outcomes have shown substantial improvement, but black birth outcomes lag considerably behind. In 2015, black infants were twice as likely to be born preterm, three times more likely to be born at a low birth weight, and had an infant mortality rate that was 5 times higher than white babies.

A number of factors influence the quality of birth outcomes. The single strongest predictor of a healthy birth outcome is the amount of prenatal care a woman receives. Women who begin prenatal care in the first trimester get more prenatal care and are more likely to have their babies' full-term and at a healthy birth weight. That increases the chances that the infant will make it through its first year of life.

In Martin County, the portion of black and Hispanic women who begin prenatal care in the first trimester lags 13 percentage points behind white women. This is because of a number of factors. First, a significant portion of women who start getting prenatal care after the first trimester say they didn't know they were pregnant until the end of the first trimester.

Second, more than 50 percent of births that occur in our community are covered by Medicaid. The portion for black and Hispanic women is even higher. Women who use pregnancy Medicaid often cite difficulties with the application process as the reason for delayed entry. That delay results in less prenatal care and the negative affects we have seen in birth outcomes.

We have ways of assisting women with the application process and getting them into care that have proven remarkably effective. In 2007, Martin County ranked 67th out of 67 Florida counties for the percentage of women entering care early. In response, we opened the Prenatal Outreach Center at the corner of U.S. 1 and Salerno Road to provide women with assistance in getting prenatal care. By 2015, the percentage of women entering care in the first trimester increased from 56 percent to 75 percent, and our ranking improved to 39th in the state. We plan to expand these efforts into two high-need areas – Golden Gate and Indiantown – over the next two years.

Martin County is a great place to live. One of the facts that supports that is our infants are healthy at a level not seen in recent memory.

I will soon be leaving the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition for the Hobe Sound Community Chest. Many people have worked very hard to bring about the gains we have made over the past five years. That being said, some of our newborns are not doing as well as others. It is within our reach to change that, and that will be the priority of Healthy Start going forward.

Scott Berry is the outgoing executive director of the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition.

Guest Columnist

Scott Berry