The increase in infant mortality rates in this nation has caused much concern for the leaders and citizens. Over the years, infant mortality has become a known issue in the United States, more so in the African-American communities. It has become of special concern also that the highest percentage of infant mortality is within the low-income and poor communities.
There are numerous other factors associated with high infant mortality rates as well. These factors include lack of prenatal care, obesity, ethnic disparities, health care access, education, economy, nutrition, and environment. “Maternal age at birth, marital status, race, ethnicity, smoking, first-time pregnancy, repeat pregnancy within 18 months) and maternal chronic conditions such as, asthma, diabetes, and hypertension are considered also (Roman et el., 2014)”. All of these components make addressing the problem very difficult.
With technological, pharmacological and biochemical advances, decreasing infant mortality has been a rigorous study since the 1970’s. The desire to see an immediate reduction has caused many to consider what can be done to eradicate this problem of increasing infant mortality. The assumption can be made that with the employment of more detailed focus on implementing changes to what is theorized to be the contributing factors of infant mortality; eradication could possibly become reality. Of course more research is imperative and ongoing.
As a country, we can do more to ensure the health of our youngest and most vulnerable population. These five mortality research studies provide findings that are consistent with previous evidence that home visits and coordinated care are effective at meeting its goals of improving maternal and child health. Earlier studies have shown home visits and coordinated care provide better outcomes for maternal health including better prenatal health and behavior, fewer behavioral impairments due to substance use; and fewer parenting attitudes that predispose them to abuse their children. When attempting to conduct research, it is very important to study what has been done and its effects in order to plan for more improved testing, trial and experimentation. In this particular research, the