Berrien County health officials say they’ve worked to improve maternal and infant health programming in response to data showing higher-than-average rates of infant mortality in the county.
At the beginning of the year, the state releases data on infant mortality for each county. The most recently available data is from 2023, and showed that Berrien County had the highest rate of infant mortality of any county in the state at 14.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.
The county also recorded the highest three-year moving average rate of infant mortality among Black infants — from 2019 to 2023, the death rate of Black infants in Berrien County was 23.4 per 1,000 live births. Berrien County Health Department Family Programs Manager Miranda Bronicki-Dopp says the numbers encouraged the department to improve upon existing programming.
“We’re really trying to beef up some of our efforts that are already there, so we have a few things that continue — our fetal infant mortality review which takes a look at every individual case of infant death in the county," Bronicki-Dopp said.
The Fetal Infant Mortality Review, or FIMR, is a board of experts that analyzes every case of fetal and infant death to collect data on trends and patterns that might give them more information about how to prevent these deaths and what causes them. They analyze demographics like race, income and substance use history to find out more about who is most impacted.
In Michigan, there are 13 FIMRs — 11 counties, including Berrien, have their own FIMRs, as does the Inter-Tribal Council and the city of Detroit. Bronicki-Dopp said Berrien is working on feeding the findings from the FIMR into a community group that will be tasked with creating solutions.
“That’ll be the Raising Up Healthy Babies task force, which has existed for some time — but really trying to make sure we’re getting those efforts going, working in partnership with other agencies and community groups,” Bronicki-Dopp said.
She added that the majority of the deaths in Berrien County were attributable to congenital abnormalities, though most preventable infant deaths were due to unsafe sleep. Because of that, she said the county is continuing to emphasize the importance of safe sleep practices in their messaging.
“We want to urge parents, grandparents — anyone who's caring for a baby under one to practice the ABCs of safe sleep – alone, back, crib, smoke free,” Bronicki-Dopp said.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) is the leading cause of injury deaths in infants — but following safe sleep recommendations for children under age one can significantly reduce the risk of SUID.
Bronicki-Dopp said safe sleep education has always been part of BCHD programming, but recent data is encouraging the department to double down on efforts to advertise their infant and postpartum health programs. Currently, BCHD offers programs like Baby’s Own Bed, free car seat checks and home visiting services.
“I really would suggest for young parents to consider looking at a lot of these programs,” Bronicki-Dopp said.
She added that officials are still waiting to see how data will change for 2024 — updated infant mortality statistics are generally published at the beginning of the year.
