Report focuses on infant morality challenge facing Franklin County

The Council on Healthy Mothers and Babies held a forum on May 29th to discuss the findings on a report examing prenatal care capacity in Franklin County (Source:"Babies Dying As Prenatal Care Suffers," The Columbus Dispatch, May 31, 2008).  Key findings in the report include:

-  Franklin County has an overall infant mortality rate of 9 death for every 1,000 live births.  The national target is 4.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.

- The infant mortality rate varies among different population groups, with it being 16.4 deaths per 1,000 live births for Franklin County's black residents compared to 6.4 deaths per 1,000 live births for its white population.

- Women missed more the 25 percent of their prenatal appointments at public health-care providers

- Franklin County's capacity for prenatal visits has fallen since 2003, falling from a capacity for 1,516 appointments to 1,069 appointments, while the number of births are increasing.

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