Infant Mortality is measured by the number of deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births.

The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths among children under one year of age occurring among the live births in a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 live births occurring among the population of the given geographical area during the same year.

In Cuyahoga County, black babies are almost three times more likely to die before their first birthday than white babies.

There are a number of factors that impact infant death. The top three causes of infant mortality are:

• Birth Defects
• Prematurity
• Sleep Related Deaths

Prevention

• Premature births are greatly impacted by the health of mom before and during pregnancy.  Opportunities to impact premature labor include: medical care, healthy diet and exercise.
• Black women are 50% more likely to have a premature birth, which can be largely explained by the stress experienced over the course of their lives.
• Birth defects are often unpreventable, however, taking prenatal vitamins that contain folic acid can decrease risk for certain defects.

Safe Sleep

• Sleep-related deaths are the most preventable cause of infant death.  Unsafe sleep environments are the primary danger to babies while they sleep.
• Always put your baby to sleep Alone, on his/her Back, in a bare-naked Crib, and Don’t smoke around the baby.
• In Cuyahoga County, we lose an average of two babies every month due to unsafe sleep environment

Are you planning to get pregnant?

Before getting pregnant, talk to your doctor about preconception health.  You can discuss your medical history and any concerns you may have about your health. Do all you can to plan a healthy pregnancy for you and your baby.

Find a doctor

• Care Alliance
• Cleveland Clinic
• Neighborhood Family Practice
• Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health
• Metrohealth Medical Center 
• University Hospitals

Healthy behaviors

• Mental Health
• Nutrition
• Oral Health
• Physical Activity
• Smoking Cessation
• Take 400 mg of Folic Acid each day to prevent birth defects that affect the baby’s spine and brain