In a report to the County Commissioners on Tuesday, County Health Nurse Kathy Sullender said the news took her by surprise because the her department had received only 4 infant death certificates for children who died in the county over that time frame. However, State records include infants who die in other counties if the mother is a resident of Daviess County.
With that in mind a review by the health department showed there were 28 infant deaths related to Daviess County in the time frame. 46% of those lived in the Washington Zip code and the remaining 54% were in the Montgomery and Odon zip codes.
17 of those deaths were from confidential causes, 9 were related to premature birth issues, 3 deaths were related to trauma or asphyxiation, and 2 were the result of SIDS. Sullender told the Commissioners that all the deceased infants were white and not Hispanic. Sullender also reported that contrary to what people might suppose, none of the deaths were related to teen births or were from the Medicare eligible economic group.
Sullender believes part o f the problem is that 25% of pregnant women in Daviess County to not seek prenatal care in the first trimester. In addition Sullender reported that 11.4% of pregnant women in the county continue to smoke. She also told the commissioners that the numbers for 2015 and 2016 looked better. She said that community awareness and action are needed or the problems will reappear. At Sullender’s request, the Commissioners approved the County Health Departments participation the Baby and Me Tobacco free program and the Indiana Safe Sleep Program to assist women who are expecting or have infants at home.
