TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — A local initiative is getting a funding boost from the federal government to help combat infant and maternal mortality.
Union Health’s Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health has been implementing its All-Babies Initiative since 2016, but will now have $5.5 million in funding over the next five years from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Healthy Start Grant to further its impact in the community.
“It’s not always the case that at the federal government level we’re able to support the direct services when people come to us and say ‘this is what we need in our community’, and that’s what these awards are about,” HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson said.
Johnson acknowledged that infant and maternal mortality rates in America are higher than HRSA would like them to be, but said that 80% of maternal mortality is preventable, and programs like the All-Babies Initiative are helping to lower the rate.
Johnson said one of the aspects of Union Health’s All-Babies Initiative that makes it stand out is the care coordination being done between multiple community partners. She said that coordination is especially essential in rural areas.
“We need to be able to make sure that in places where it might otherwise be challenging to get services and support that we’re investing and we’re putting our federal resources into communities like yours so that everyone gets access to resources and services,” Johnson said. “It shouldn’t matter what your zipcode is, when you’re pregnant you deserve to have all the support possible so you have the healthiest possible outcome.”
Lugar Center Executive Director Hicham Rahmouni agrees with Johnson and said that the rural communities the All-Babies Initiative serves often deal with social factors that play into their ability to get proper resources during and after pregnancy.
“For rural communities, transportation is often a challenge, access to food, access to many services like housing, being able to afford it,” Rahmouni said. “Those are a lot of the challenges that we hear about across the community, whether someone is pregnant, parenting or not.”
Rahmouni said families with young kids may have trouble getting to appointments and receiving other services, so the All-Babies program includes the role of a navigator who is able to meet each patient where they’re at.
“We are in homes visiting patients on a daily basis,” All-Babies Initiative Community Healthcare Worker Sarah Wessel said. “Sometimes we meet them where they’re at in regards to sometimes we meet them at the library or for coffee or things like that.”
Wessel said the program includes mental health services, fatherhood services, a specific program for teenagers, and peer recovery services.
Data from the Indiana Department of Health showcases a drop in the infant mortality rate over the past few years in the Central Southwestern Hospital Region of Indiana:
- 2019 – 9.5 deaths per 1,000 live births
- 2020 – 8.2 deaths per 1,000 live births
- 2021 – 7.6 deaths per 1,000 live births
- 2022 – 4.6 deaths per 1,000 live births
Wessel said seeing the positive change in these statistics is rewarding.
“When you see your numbers looking better and more moms being involved in outcomes that are in a positive way, it really is impactful for the community and we really are making a difference,” Wessel said.
Rahmouni reiterated that the key to successful healthcare outcomes is collaboration between community partners, mentioning several local groups, including the following, as partners to the All-Babies Initiative:
- Chances and Services for Youth
- Valley Professionals Community Health Center
- Union Hospital
- Union Medical Group
- Hamilton Center
- local health departments
- Crisis Pregnancy Center
“By coming together, we can do more together than we can do separately,” Rahmouni said. “Elevating what’s already happening and then looking for the gaps and trying to bridge them.”
Among ways to reduce infant mortality are the following, according to the IDH:
- Decrease early elective deliveries before 39 weeks
- Decrease prenatal smoking and substance use
- Increase breastfeeding duration and exclusivity
- Promote the ABCs of safe sleep
