BLACK BABIES' DEATHS DOWN PRENATAL PROGRAM WORKS, BUT MORE RESOURCES NEEDED.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - African-American infant mortality dropped by nearly half after the first year of a Los Angeles County health department effort to reduce alarmingly high deaths in the Antelope Valley, a new report shows.

African-American infant deaths in the Antelope Valley dropped from 27 in 2002 to 13 in 2003, the most recent year of statistics devised for the Littlerock-based Antelope Valley Black Infant Health Program.

``I don't know the entire reason why that happened, but a couple of things did happen in 2002,'' said Cynthia Harding, the county's director of maternal, child and adolescent health programs. ``When I first took the job in 2001, we had been given an increase in black infant dollars. We looked for pockets of greatest need. The Antelope Valley was starting to rise in terms of (death) rate. We started to invest dollars in 2002. The investment was part of the solution.''

There were 16.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births among African-Americans in the Antelope Valley in 2003, a drop from the 32.7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births recorded in 2002.

At the same time, however, the infant death rate among Latinos has increased from 6.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2002 to 11.1 in 2003.

``That's a concern to us. We have to remain vigilant with all activities that we are doing,'' Harding said.

The Antelope Valley African-American 2003 infant death rate was still three times higher than the overall county rate of 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births and higher than the overall Antelope Valley rate of 9.7 among Antelope Valley residents of all races, according to the report.

Of the 48 infant deaths in 2003 in the Antelope Valley, 13 were African-Americans, 26 were Latinos, and eight were whites. In 2002, there were 53 infant deaths, of which 27 were African-Americans.

The overall Antelope Valley infant death rate has increased from five deaths per 1,000 live births in 1999, to 6.2 in 2000, to 9.4 in 2001, to 10.6 in 2002, and down to 9.7 in 2003.

Among African-Americans, the rate went up from 11 in 1999, to 19 in 2000, to 28.4 in 2001, to 32.7 in 2002, and down to 16.5 in 2003. Among Latinos, the rate has gone from 5.7 in 1999, to 5.6 in 2000, to 7.7 in 2001, to 6.6 in 2002, and to 11.1 in 2003.

Since April 2004, when the county reported the alarming rise in 2002 in the infant death rate among African-Americans, county health officials have collaborated with local groups, agencies and health care providers to reduce the rate and improve birth outcomes, resulting in the formation of the Antelope Valley Best Babies Collaborative.

AVBBC consists of more than 40 local agencies, health care providers, churches, residents, and county health officials, the report said.

In March, the March of Dimes contributed more than $43,000 to further expand the Black Infant Health Program by providing for a neonatal nurse to work with predominantly African-American churches. The nurse is to help pregnant women and young mothers obtain maternal-health education and prenatal medical care for themselves, as well as medical care for their babies.

The group, with Antelope Valley Partners for Health as the lead agency, in June was awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the First 5 LA foundation to promote healthy births.

County public health staff reviewed the 53 infant deaths in the Antelope Valley in 2002 that involved 51 mothers. There were two sets of twins.

The review found that babies born too early and too small were at the greatest risk; mothers often started receiving care as late as the 12th week of pregnancy; many of the mothers had previous fetal losses; psychosocial issues, such as stressful life events, were prevalent; and appropriate care was not always accessible, the report said.

The report said a survey was conducted of women living in the Antelope Valley who delivered a live infant between May and July of 2004. A total of 368 women completed and returned the survey.

Significant findings show that mothers with low birth-weight or preterm infants were more likely than other mothers to:

--Lack health insurance before pregnancy.

--Have given birth to a low birth-weight or preterm infant in the past.

--Have high blood pressure before or during pregnancy,

--Receive inadequate prenatal care.

--Experience early labor pain and have their water break early.

--Smoke during pregnancy.

--Feel their neighborhood was unsafe.

--Feel less happy during pregnancy.

The report recommended increasing access for at-risk women to support programs.

``Despite efforts to build local infrastructure, capacity for intake of women at risk during their pregnancies continues to be an ongoing problem in the Antelope Valley. Programs ... are at capacity and in order to take new clients, the programs will need to expand with additional funding. We will continue to search for new funding streams to increase capacity to meet the demand for these services,'' the report said.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com