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Kasich launches
new effort to combat infant mortality
Also Signs HB 465, Establishing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Awareness
Week
COLUMBUS – Calling it unacceptable that more than 1,000 Ohio babies die
each year before their first birthday, Governor John R. Kasich today
announced new efforts to combat infant mortality before 1,500 leaders
from across Ohio attending the 2014 Ohio Infant Mortality Summit.
The goal of the summit, first hosted last year by the Ohio Department
of Health, is to help foster statewide efforts to ensure that every
Ohio baby is born healthy, full-term, and lives to celebrate their
first birthday.
“Ohio has one of the worst infant mortality rates in the nation and
that is simply unacceptable,” Kasich told the audience.
“Initiatives like today’s summit and our efforts to reduce drug
addiction are good first steps, but we must work together to focus
support and resources to those mothers and babies most at-risk.”
Ohio’s 2011 infant mortality rate was 7.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live
births compared to 6.1 nationally. While the issue impacts Ohio
families of various races and locations, the African American infant
mortality rate is particularly troubling at 15.5 deaths per 1,000 live
births—more than twice the white rate of 6.4 per 1,000 live births.
New efforts announced today by Kasich to better combat the problem
include:
· Identifying Areas With the Greatest Need: The Ohio Department of
Health has identified “hot spot” communities where infant mortality is
the highest in the state;
· Bringing New Care Strategies to At-Risk Moms: The Ohio Medicaid
program will direct the managed health care organizations serving
Medicaid recipients to automatically connect pregnant women and babies
in the hot spot communities with high-risk care management benefits; and
· Connecting At-Risk Moms with Care: The Office of Health
Transformation will work to identify and fund research based
best-practice methods of group care for expecting mothers in both
targeted urban and rural communities.
These new strategies are in addition to new funding to research
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and the new $4.2 million Maternal Opiate
Medical Support (M.O.M.S.) initiative to help expecting mothers break
addiction.
After his announcement, Kasich signed House Bill 465 (Johnson &
McDermott), a new law designating the first week of July as “Neonatal
Abstinence Syndrome Awareness Week.” NAS is a complex disorder that
occurs when newborns are exposed to certain addictive opiate or
narcotic drugs. Conditions associated with NAS include low birth
weight, respiratory complications and feeding difficulties which may
contribute to infant deaths in some cases.
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