Infants are dying in Kansas at a rate higher than the national average, with rates even higher among rural families, Kelsey Ryan reports for The Wichita Eagle. The state's infant mortality rate in 2012 was 6.3 deaths for every 1,000 children born, while the national average was 5.9 deaths for every 1,000 children born. In 2012, Kansas had 254 infant deaths, compared to 247 in 2011, an increase of 1.6 percent.
"The infant mortality rates in Kansas are higher for babies born to women who live in rural and densely settled rural areas compared to infants born to women who live in frontier (less than six people per square mile), urban and semi-urban areas, according to state vital statistics data from 2008 to 2012," Ryan writes. Even though more infant deaths occur in urban areas, rural infant deaths really stand out in remote, low-population areas like Rawlins County, the dark green square in the northwest on the map below. The county of 2,500 leads the state in infant deaths, even though there were only three in the study period; its rate was 25 deaths for every 1,000 births. The three counties surrounding Rawlins County also have high rates, with each averaging more than 14 deaths for every 1,000 children born. (Eagle map from Kansas Department of Health and Environment data; for the interactive version click here)
Limited access to quality medical services, and lack of health insurance, are some of the reasons for the higher death rates in rural areas, Ryan writes. "Of the roughly 40,000 live births in Kansas last year, nearly 18 percent
of pregnant women received 'inadequate' or 'intermediate' prenatal
care, according to state data. Lower levels of care were more likely to occur in rural areas than in urban areas." Most of the counties rated "inadequate" are in the western part of the state, where poverty runs higher. The report also found that in 2012 more than 5,400 women smoked during pregnancy; local data are available on the interactive map.
"Statewide, more than 2,100 women who gave birth in 2012 didn’t seek prenatal care until they were at least six months pregnant, according to the KDHE report. More than 350 women never sought prenatal care before birth," Ryan writes. One reason is the long distances required to travel to see a specialist. Christy Schunn, executive director of the Kansas Infant Deaths and SIDS Network, told Ryan, “Access to health care seems to be a concern. I talk to a lot of families who have had infants die, and they didn’t have medical insurance and by the time they got insurance, they were halfway through their pregnancy. We need early prenatal care.” (Read more)
"The infant mortality rates in Kansas are higher for babies born to women who live in rural and densely settled rural areas compared to infants born to women who live in frontier (less than six people per square mile), urban and semi-urban areas, according to state vital statistics data from 2008 to 2012," Ryan writes. Even though more infant deaths occur in urban areas, rural infant deaths really stand out in remote, low-population areas like Rawlins County, the dark green square in the northwest on the map below. The county of 2,500 leads the state in infant deaths, even though there were only three in the study period; its rate was 25 deaths for every 1,000 births. The three counties surrounding Rawlins County also have high rates, with each averaging more than 14 deaths for every 1,000 children born. (Eagle map from Kansas Department of Health and Environment data; for the interactive version click here)
"Statewide, more than 2,100 women who gave birth in 2012 didn’t seek prenatal care until they were at least six months pregnant, according to the KDHE report. More than 350 women never sought prenatal care before birth," Ryan writes. One reason is the long distances required to travel to see a specialist. Christy Schunn, executive director of the Kansas Infant Deaths and SIDS Network, told Ryan, “Access to health care seems to be a concern. I talk to a lot of families who have had infants die, and they didn’t have medical insurance and by the time they got insurance, they were halfway through their pregnancy. We need early prenatal care.” (Read more)
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