Infant mortality rising in WNC

[Sonicmedusa]

Infant mortality rising in WNC
Improving mothers’ overall health is key
by Nanci Bompey
published June 24, 2007 12:15 am

Asheville – More babies are dying in Western North Carolina, and public health experts say they don’t know why.

....As health care in the United States improved over the past several decades, infant mortality drastically declined. The rate went from 26 per 1,000 live births in 1960 to 6.9 per 1,000 live births in 2000. But since 2000, the number of infant deaths nationally and in North Carolina has remained relatively constant.

In 2005, the latest year for which data is available, Buncombe County saw infant mortality rates increase to a rate of 10.7 from 5.4 the previous year. Infant mortality rates in the 16-county western part of the state jumped to 9.8 from 6.0 in 2004.

Minority babies also continue to die at twice the rate of white babies, both in WNC and in the United States.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770623033

The public health “experts” can’t figure out WHY.

Should we tell them, or let them figure it out on their own? There are so many causes to choose from.

But the main one is, though “as health care in the United States improved over the past several decades”, their ACCESS to it has not. Health care, as practiced in America, is for the rich. In many cases, these mothers do not even qualify for Medicaid until they become pregnant.