Tarvica Williams and daughter Ta’Niya depend on the Blues Project for post-partum health care.
Memphian Jessica Love’s twins celebrated their first birthday in
August. That’s a big deal in Shelby County, where the infant mortality
rate is three times higher than the overall rate in the United
States.
Love received pre-natal and post-partum care for Alijah and Amarion
through the Blues Project, a University of Tennessee Health Science
Center research study that provides health care and social support to
pregnant women who might not otherwise be able to afford it.
“The Blues Project helps out a lot. If you lose your job, they help
with formula. They help provide clothing, and they have an RN who works
with you if you don’t have insurance,” said Love, one of more than 100
women and babies at the Blues Project’s birthday bash at the Hope &
Healing Center last week.
The event — held in conjunction with Shelby County’s Infant
Mortality Awareness Month — celebrated the first birthdays of
more than 700 babies born here since the study began in 2005. Infant
mortality rates are determined by the number of deaths among infants
younger than 1 year old per 1,000 live births.
According to director Kimberly Lamar, the Blues Project will begin
enrolling more pregnant women in early October. So far, the project has
a 100 percent success rate, and the county’s infant mortality rate
dropped from 14 percent in 2003 to 12 percent in 2007.
Infant mortality is at its highest in North Memphis’ 38108 zip code,
with 31 deaths per 1,000 births in 2005. That’s higher than rates in
Vietnam, Iran, and El Salvador.
“The two major factors for infant mortality are pre-term delivery
and low birth weight,” said Lamar. “We provide education, and we’ve
shown that women who participate in the Blues Project have fewer
pre-maturity and fewer low-birth-weight deliveries.”
In addition to the Blues Project, a new Shelby County Fetal Infant
Mortality Review (FIMR) team is interviewing women who lost babies.
“Just through reviewing cases so far, we’ve seen a lack of education
about how babies should sleep,” said FIMR director Theresa Chappele. “A
lot of babies are sleeping in cribs with things like teddy bears and
blankets. Some are sleeping in the wrong position, and others are
co-sleeping with parents. Sometimes the parents roll over and suffocate
the babies.”
The group hopes to drastically change that within five years.
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution
authored by Congressman Steve Cohen calling for a greater national
commitment to reduce infant mortality in the United States. In
addition, Cohen authored the Newborn Act, legislation that creates 10
pilot programs across the country aimed at lowering infant mortality
rates in impoverished areas.
“None of the pilot-program locations have been determined, but
they’ll look at areas with the greatest incidence of infant mortality.
If you have 10 programs and Memphis is number one [in infant deaths],
there’s no way we wouldn’t be included,” said Cohen, whose sister
Rosemary died a month after she was born.
Earlier this month, Shelby Couny mayor A C Wharton addressed the
National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on the county’s infant
mortality problem. His speech was followed by a screening of A
Healthy Baby Begins With You, a documentary produced by Spike Lee’s
wife Tonya and filmed in Memphis and Atlanta. The health department
will screen the film locally later this year.
