The authors of a new statewide report on infant and maternal mortality are sounding the alarm on its findings, particularly in Montgomery County.
Groundwork Ohio, a statewide child advocacy organization, produced the report in collaboration with Dayton-based Medicare/Medicaid provider CareSource and Ohio Association of Health Plans. It includes insights from over 3,000 Ohioans and focuses on Montgomery County.
“We have a maternal and infant health crisis in Ohio,” said Dee Yocum, interim president of the Ohio market for CareSource.
Groundwork hosted a webinar on Tuesday, Mar. 18 to go over key details of the report.
Over the past nine years, Montgomery County’s rate of maternal mortality is the highest in the state at 19.7 deaths for every 100,000 live births, versus a state average of 14.7.
Using data from Public Health-Dayton & Montgomery County, the report also finds that the infant mortality rate in Montgomery County is higher than average, occurring in 9.8 of every 1,000 live births. The state average is 7.1.
Health care providers should share their data with the community and hold themselves accountable to these outcomes, said Lynanne Gutierrez, CEO and president of Groundwork.
“That's where you begin to see the progress because you are building relationships, you are building trust, and improving those outcomes along the way,” Gutierrez said.
In a survey that Groundwork Ohio completed on over 2,700 caregivers and mothers, participants cited their income, health insurance coverage and their health as the top three factors negatively affecting their care. But Black respondents reported their race/ethnicity as the top factor negatively affecting their care.
In 2023, 13.8% of Black infants in Montgomery County were born preterm — the highest rate of all races. Preterm babies — defined as born before 37 weeks gestation — are at a higher risk of several health conditions, as well as developmental challenges later in life.
The report also includes qualitative data obtained through interviews to learn about families’ experiences. Groundwork Ohio staff conducted 86 interviews with community members in Dayton and Montgomery County, which were primarily with Black people and primarily women.
“I just felt really unheard. And for the first two pregnancies, because I felt so unheard, I was intimidated and it made me not want to speak up for myself even more because every time I tried to (share what) I desired for myself in my pregnancy, I was immediately shut down,” said one interviewee in the report. “I was really discouraged and didn't want (to) deal with the hospitals ever again with anything, let alone birthing.”
CareSource is the largest Medicaid provider in Ohio. The organization can share these findings with Medicaid and across managed care plans to effect change, Yocum said.
"CareSource is deeply committed to addressing the critical crisis of infant and maternal mortality, particularly in Dayton, Montgomery County ... We're not just an insurance company, right?" she said. "We are active in our communities across the state of Ohio. We serve on boards. We hear the needs of our members and we do not take it lightly what those needs are.”
Some policy recommendations coming from the report include health care access expansion, improvements in food security programs and affordable housing, and increased community engagement.
The Center for Disease Control scrubbed several webpages related to racial health equity from its website in January due to an executive order. But Yocum said they will let the data lead them.
“We know what the discrepancies are, and we're working to address (them). We see disparities in our Black members; we see disparities in Appalachia; we see disparities by age,” Yocum said. “So we're just working to better our outcomes for everyone based on what the data is telling us.”
