Center Resources
Bereavement Support
Bibliographies
Child Care and SIDS
Definitions
En Español
First Responders
For Families
Infant Mortality
Journal Alerts
MCH Alert
Multimedia
Pregnancy Loss
Professional Resources
Safe Sleep Environment
Statistics
Training Toolkit
Partner SIDS/ID
Centers
National SIDS & Infant Death Program Support Center / First Candle
National SIDS & Infant Death Project IMPACT
National Center for Cultural Competence SIDS/ID Project
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Infant Mortality and Pregnancy Loss Knowledge Path
Introduction
This knowledge path about infant mortality and
pregnancy loss has been compiled by the Maternal
and Child Health Library at Georgetown University. It offers
a selection of recent, high-quality resources that analyze data,
report on research aimed at identifying causes and promising
intervention strategies, and describe risk-reduction efforts
as well as bereavement-support programs. Separate sections identify
resources on factors that contribute to infant mortality and
pregnancy loss: birth defects, injuries, low birthweight and
prematurity, and safe sleep environment. This knowledge path
for health professionals, policymakers, researchers, and families
will be updated periodically.
Related topics: Please see the knowledge paths, Preconception
and Pregnancy and Racial
and Ethnic Disparities in Health. Also see the Community
Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services
for Children and Families and the resource brief, Home
Visiting.
Overview
See the set of definitions presented
by the National Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child
Death and Pregnancy Loss Resource Center, which describes
the terms often associated with infant mortality and pregnancy
loss.
Also see the National Center for Health Statistics
(NCHS) report, Infant
Mortality Statistics from the 2005 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death
Data Set (2008), which presents infant mortality rates by race
and ethnicity, leading causes of death, infant characteristics
such as birthweight, and maternal factors such as receipt of prenatal
care. The data brief, Fetal
and Perinatal Mortality, United States, 2005 (2009) presents
data and examines trends in pregnancy loss.
See the Department of Health and Human
Services fact sheet, Preventing
Infant Mortality (rev. ed.) (2006), which describes the problem
of infant mortality in the United States and federal efforts to
reduce mortality risks.
Resources
for Professionals
Web Sites: A-Z
- Association
of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP): Infant Mortality.
Offers information and resources about its programs to
help state public health agencies and communities address
infant mortality. Recent publications include
AMCHP
Partners with CityMatCH and NHSA to Eliminate
Disparities in Infant Mortality. (2008).
[Newsletter article].
Investigating
Troubling Trends: A Report of the AMCHP/CDC State
Infant Mortality Collaborative. (2007). [Report].
State-Local
Teams Chosen to Participate in Partnership to
Eliminate Disparities in Infant Mortality.
(2008). [Press release].
- Association
of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs (ASIP).
Hosts information about the National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Project IMPACT, which is part of a national consortium
of four centers supported by the Maternal
and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) to address infant mortality
and pregnancy loss. Offers contact
information for state Maternal and Child Health (MCH)
and Sudden and Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) programs;
a listserv to support state
and local infant-mortality and risk-reduction programs;
a nationwide calendar of events related to sudden infant
death syndrome (SIDS), SUID, infant mortality, and safe
sleep environments; and resources for infant-death risk
reduction and bereavement support. Project IMPACT serves
as the communications hub for a national network of fetal,
infant, and child mortality programs by convening, connecting,
and providing technical support to state and local efforts.
Also see the ASIP bibliography about
grief and bereavement.
- Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Offers resources and initiatives aimed at reducing infant
mortality and pregnancy loss that include
CDC's Division
of Reproductive Health: Maternal and Infant
Health. Contains links to reports,
data, and other resources about promoting
healthy pregnancy and infant health and
preventing premature birth and infant illness
and mortality, including SIDS
and SUID. Recent publications and initiatives
include
CDC's Morbidity & Mortality
Weekly Reports (MMWR). Presents data based on weekly reports
to CDC by state health departments. Recent reports about infant
mortality and pregnancy loss include
- Apparent
Disappearance of the Black-White
Infant Mortality Gap—Dane
County, Wisconsin, 1990-2007.
(2009).
- QuickStats:
Fetal Mortality Rates, by Period
of Gestation—United States,
1990-2005. (2009).
- QuickStats:
Infant Mortality Rates for 10 Leading
Causes of Infant Death—United
States, 2005. (2007).
- QuickStats:
Infant, Neonatal, and Postneonatal
Annual Mortality Rates—United
States, 1940-2006. (2009).
- QuickStats:
Preterm-Related Infant Mortality
Rates, by Race/Ethnicity of Mother—United
States, 2000 and 2005.
(2008).
CDC's National
Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Includes national data
about infant mortality and pregnancy loss. Recent publications
include
CDC's Racial
and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Across the U.S. (REACH
U.S.). Describes this initiative that supports community
coalitions in designing, implementing, and evaluating community-driven
strategies to eliminate health disparities in eight priority
areas, one of which is infant mortality.
Also see CDC's Pregnancy
Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS),
the National Center on
Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
(NCBDDD), and NCBDDD's brochure for
health professionals about stillbirths.
- CityMatCH.
Contains tools and resources for implementing the Perinatal
Periods of Risk (PPOR) approach for mobilizing communities
to reduce feto-infant mortality in U.S. cities. PPOR is a joint
initiative of CityMatCH, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), the March
of Dimes (MOD), and the Maternal and Child
Health Bureau (MCHB).
FIMR/HIV
Pilot Project: Overview and Lessons Learned.
Featuring Three Communities' Efforts to Improve
Systems of Care for Women With HIV Infection.
(2009). [Report].
- Eunice
Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development (NICHD). Contains research and
grant information, publications, and other resources for
health professionals, researchers, and families about pregnancy
and infant and child health topics, including pregnancy
loss, birth defects, prematurity, and infant mortality. Reports describe
the research and training supported by NICHD's Pregnancy
and Perinatology Branch to improve the outcomes of
pregnancy, reduce infant mortality, and minimize maternal
and infant morbidities. Also see the Back
to Sleep Campaign.
- First
Candle. Hosts information about the National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Program Support Center, which is part of a national
consortium of four centers supported by the Maternal
and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) to address infant mortality
and pregnancy loss. Provides a hotline in
English and Spanish for expectant and new parents on ways
to help their infants survive and thrive, for parents who
have experienced the death of an infant, and for professionals
working with families. Offers education and training materials
for health and human services professionals, including
program manuals, PowerPoint presentations, information
about public-education campaigns, and annotated citations
for research articles. Some materials are available in
Spanish. Also see First Candle's resources about infant
mortality risk reduction, bereavement,
and safe sleep environments.
- Healthy
People 2010. Offers information
and publications about this national health-promotion and
disease-prevention initiative that is coordinated by the Office
of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP).
View the maternal, infant, and child health focus
area to learn about the objectives related to infant
mortality and pregnancy loss. See Data2010 for
data about the objectives and the HP2010
Information Access Project for access to published
literature related to the objectives. Also view proposed Healthy
People 2020 objectives for maternal,
infant, and child health.
- Joint
Center for Political and Economic Studies: The Courage
to Love Commission. Presents papers, PowerPoint
presentations, and fact
sheets from this initiative that analyzed racial and
ethnic disparities in infant mortality. Papers include
Inequality
Matters: Infant Mortality in the Global
Village. (2007).
Maternal
Nutrition and Infant Mortality in the Context
of Relationality. (2007).
Race,
Stress, and Social Support: Addressing the Crisis
in Black Infant Mortality. (2007).
- March
of Dimes (MOD). Contains
resources for health professionals and expectant
and new parents in English and Spanish about preconceptional
and prenatal care, birth defects, pregnancy
loss, prematurity, bereavement,
and how to get involved in improving infants' health by
reducing the incidence of birth defects and infant mortality.
Offers perinatal statistics (including
infant mortality rates), continuing-education modules,
medical reference information, and video and audio resources.
- Maternal
and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Describes MCHB's
projects and initiatives on behalf of America's women,
infants, children, adolescents, and their families. Initiatives
include Healthy
Start, a program to address factors contributing to
infant mortality, low birthweight, and other adverse perinatal
outcomes in high-risk populations. MCHB's National Sudden
and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy Loss Cooperative
Agreement Program is a national consortium of four centers:
(1) National Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child
Death and Pregnancy Loss Resource Center at Georgetown
University, (2) National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Program Support Center at First
Candle, (3) National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Project IMPACT at the Association
of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs (ASIP), and (4) National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Project at the National Center
for Cultural Competence. Resources about infant mortality
and pregnancy loss include
Evidence
of Trends, Risk Factors, and Intervention
Strategies: A Report from the Healthy Start
National Evaluation 2006—Racial and
Ethnic Disparities in Infant Mortality.
(2008). [Report].
Improving
Infant Death Investigation through Doll Re-Enactment.
(2009). [Archived Webcast].
Infant
Mortality Reduction: Interconception Care In
Michigan. (2008). [Archived Webcast].
Let’s
Make It Easy While Getting the Most from Your
Hard Work on Child Death Review Reporting.
(2009). [Archived Webcast].
Profile
of Healthy Start: Findings from Phase I of the
Evaluation 2006. (2008). [Report].
Sudden
Unexpected Infant Death (SUID): National Developments,
Initiatives, Studies and Opportunities. (2009).
[Archived Webcast].
Also see the Maternal and Child Health
Bureau (MCHB) Hotline, Maternal and
Child Health Library, the Title V Information
System, and the Discretionary Grant Information
System (DGIS).
- National
Center for Child Death Review.
Describes the child death review process for infants, children,
and adolescents from birth through age 18; offers tools
for child death review teams; provides state program information;
and presents child mortality data by state. The center
is funded by the Maternal and Child Health
Bureau (MCHB).
- National
Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC).
Hosts information about the National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Project, which is part of a national consortium
of four centers supported by the Maternal
and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) to address infant mortality
and pregnancy loss. Provides technical assistance and develops
resources on cultural and linguistic competence to help
programs effectively address racial and ethnic disparities
in perinatal, infant, and child mortality and pregnancy
loss. Resources include a set of promising
practices for cultural and linguistic competence in
addressing SIDS/infant death (ID), training
materials, a literature review, a self-assessment checklist,
a consultants
list, and links to related resources about cultural
competence and infant mortality. Information is available
in English and Spanish. Recent publications include
Building
Integrated Systems to Address Sudden Unexpected
Infant Death. (2007). [Report].
Organizational
Policy Supports Families in Times of Crisis:
Fredericksburg, VA. Promising Practices for Cultural
and Linguistic Competence in Addressing Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome and Other Infant Death.
(2009). [Report].
- National
Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program (NFIMR).
Contains a wealth of resources for implementing the fetal
and infant mortality review (FIMR) method, including a
directory of state and community FIMR projects, program
descriptions, data-abstraction forms, sample laws to implement
and safeguard FIMR proceedings, and an online
discussion group. NFIMR is a collaborative effort between
the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Maternal
and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Recent publications
include
Annotated
Bibliography on Grief and Bereavement Following
Pregnancy Loss, Perinatal and Infant Death
(rev. ed.). (2009).
Fetal
and Infant Mortality Review Manual: A Guide for
Communities (2nd ed.). (2009). [Manual].
- National
Healthy Start Association (NHSA). Describes the
Healthy Start program and provides general information
about infant mortality, low-birthweight infants, and racial
disparities in perinatal outcomes. Includes a directory
of Healthy Start programs nationwide and a newsletter.
Funded by the Maternal and Child Health
Bureau (MCHB), Healthy Start provides community-based,
culturally competent, family-centered, comprehensive perinatal
health services to women, infants, and their families in
communities with very high rates of infant mortality. Recent
publications include
National
Infant Mortality Awareness Month Toolkit.
(2009). This toolkit aims to help Healthy
Start projects promote the effectiveness
of programs and efforts to reduce infant
deaths, low birthweight, preterm births,
and disparities in perinatal outcomes.
Also see the Maternal and Child Health Library's Healthy
Start Collection Database for a catalog of materials developed
by Healthy Start programs.
- National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Resource Center. Presents a wealth of resources
for health and human service professionals, including first
responders and child care providers, as well as for families
about risk reduction and bereavement for pregnancy loss
and sudden and unexpected infant and child death. The center
is part of a national consortium of four centers supported
by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau
(MCHB) to address infant mortality and pregnancy loss.
Resources include fact sheets, bibliographies, statistics, Spanish-language
materials, a multimedia
collection, a resource database, journal
article summaries, and most recently:
First
Candle's 2009 Research and Advocacy Symposium:
Multimedia Proceedings. (2009). These
podcasts are presented collaboratively
with First Candle.
Training
Toolkit. (2009).
Also see the center's resources about bereavement and safe
sleep environments, and the MCH Alert.
- Office
of Minority Health: Infant Health. Contains statistics
about infant mortality among racial and ethnic groups and
a fact sheet and list of links to publications and Web
sites about infant mortality. Initiatives include
A
Healthy Baby Begins with You. Presents
information about this national print and radio campaign to raise
awareness about infant mortality with an emphasis on the African-American
community. Includes campaign
materials and infant mortality disparities fact
sheets. Also presents information about another phase of
the campaign, the Preconception
Peer Educators (PPE) Program, which is designed to educate
the college-age population about preconception health and care
and to train them to serve as ambassadors for their peers who
are not attending college.

Additional Electronic
Publications
- Center for Health
Care Strategies. 2007. Collaborating
to Improve Birth Outcomes in New Jersey: A CHCS Project Spotlight.
Hamilton, NJ: Center for Health Care Strategies. This report
profiles the experiences and lessons learned from the New
Jersey Collaborative to Improve Birth Outcomes and Health
Status of Children.
- Egerter S, Braveman P, Pamuk E, Cubbin C, Dekker
M, Pedragon V, Sadegh-Nobari T. 2008. America's
Health Starts with Healthy Children: How Do States Compare? Princeton,
NJ: Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America.
This chartbook examines state and national data on two widely
used measures of child health: infant mortality and children's
general health status to document how healthy our nation's
children are now and how healthy they could be if we as a nation
were realizing our full health potential.
- Jocson M, Ramstrom K, Nettesheim-Engel K. 2007. Survey
of California Fetal Infant Mortality Review Programs.
Sacramento, CA: California
Department of Public Health. This report describes the
results of a survey of California FIMR coordinators about
the structure of current California FIMR programs, gaps in
the FIMR process, and support and training needs.
- Kids Count, Voices
for Virginia's Children. 2007. Infant
Mortality: Understanding the Complexities of Death Among
Virginia's Youngest Children. Richmond, VA: Voices for
Virginia's Children. This data brief describes infant mortality
rates in Virginia and examines its causes and risk factors.
- Levi J, Cimons M, Johnson K. 2008. Healthy
Women, Healthy Babies. Washington, DC: Trust
for America's Health (TFAH). This report identifies issues
and obstacles facing the United States in promoting preconception
care, and it recommends actions to improve women's health
and thereby ensure healthier infants.
- Missouri
Department of Social Services, State Technical Assistance
Team. 2007. Preventing
Child Deaths in Missouri: The Missouri Child Fatality Review
Program Annual Report for 2006. Jefferson City, MO: Missouri
Child Fatality Review Program, Missouri Department of Social
Services. This report provides information about the Missouri
Child Fatality Review Program, confidentiality issues, different
categories of child fatalities, findings related to infant
deaths, fetal and infant mortality review, and SUIDs.
- National Conference
of State Legislatures (NCSL).
2009. Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): State Laws (rev. ed). Washington,
DC: National Conference of State Legislatures. This compilation
lists states with laws related to SIDS and offers a brief
description of each law with links to more detailed information.
- Saenz R. 2007. Growing
Color Divide in U.S. Infant Mortality. Washington, DC: Population
Reference Bureau. This brief describes racial disparities
in infant mortality.
- UNICEF.
2009. The State of
the World's Children 2009. New York, NY: UNICEF. Table
1: Basic indicators contains infant mortality rate comparisons
by country.

Databases
The databases listed below are excellent tools
for identifying data, additional literature
and research, and programs addressing
infant mortality and pregnancy loss. Many of the entries below
contain tips on how to use the databases efficiently. Please
note that databases vary in how terms should be entered; for
example, some require quotation marks and others don't. Enter
search phrases as shown in bold below.
- Data
- Community
Health Status Indicators (CHSI). Presents
county-specific data on health status indicators obtained
from a variety of federal agencies including the Department
of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Census Bureau, and the Department of Labor.
Use the indicators to compare a county with counties similar
in population composition and selected demographics and
to characterize the overall health of a county and its
citizens to support health planning. Select a state and
county and click on Display Data. Select Measures of Birth
and Death to view birth measures and infant mortality rates.
CHSI is a service of the Department
of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
- Data2010:
The Healthy People 2010 Database. Contains the
most recent monitoring data for tracking Healthy
People 2010. To obtain data about infant mortality
and contributing factors, click on the field, Data by Focus
Area. Under the field, Select a Focus Area, choose 16 -
Maternal, Infant, and Child Health from the pop-up menu.
Next, click on the button for Include Related Objectives
From Other Focus Areas in the Table. Click on the Submit
button. This data set is provided by the National
Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) via CDC
Wonder.
- Health
Data Interactive. Presents interactive online data
tables on pregnancy and birth, health conditions and risk
factors, health care access and use, and mortality. Infant,
neonatal, and postneonatal mortality data and data about
preterm birth and low birthweight are presented. HDI is
a service of the National Center for Health
Statistics (NCHS).
- KIDS
COUNT Data Center. Contains
information about this national and state-by-state effort
to track the status of children in the United States. Generate
custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles
of birth outcomes, among other child health indicators.
KIDS COUNT is a project of the Annie
E. Casey Foundation (AECF).
- Linked
Birth/Infant Death Data Set. Contains data about
infant births/deaths occurring within the United States
to U.S. residents. Data are available by county of mother's
residence, infant's age, underlying cause of death, gender,
birthweight, birth plurality, birth order, gestational
age at birth, period of prenatal care, maternal race and
ethnicity, maternal age, maternal education, and marital
status. This data set is provided by the National
Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) via CDC
Wonder.
- PeriStats.
Provides access to maternal and infant health-related data
at the national, state, county, and city level by aggregating
data from several government agencies and organizations. Topics
include the timing and frequency of prenatal care, preterm
birth, low birthweight, infant mortality, tobacco use, and
health insurance coverage. Over 60,000 graphs, maps, and tables
are available, and data are referenced to the relevant source.
PeriStats is a service of the March of Dimes.
- Pregnancy
Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS). Presents
state-specific, population-based data on maternal attitudes
and experiences before, during, and immediately following
pregnancy. PRAMS is a surveillance project of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state
health departments.
- State
Health Facts Online. Contains
state-level data on more than 500 health topics. View individual
state profiles, or compare data for all states by category.
For infant mortality data, click on the Health Status category
and select one of several subcategories under Infants.
For data about low birthweight and prematurity, click on
the Health Status category, and select one of several subcategories
under Births. This system is provided by the Kaiser
Family Foundation.
- Title
V Information System (TVIS). Contains data from
annual Title V Block Grant applications and reports submitted
by all 59 U.S. states and jurisdictions. To identify state
efforts to reduce infant mortality, conduct several searches:
(1) Select Program
Data; scroll to Medicaid/Non Medicaid Comparison and
select Infants deaths per 1,000 live births; select a state
and Annual Report Year; and click on Start Search. (2)
Select Measurement
and Indicator Data; select National Outcome Measures;
select Most Recent Year Available or Multi-Year Report;
select a state and infant mortality measure; click on Start
Search. (3) Select Measurement
and Indicator Data; scroll to State Data; select State
Priority Needs Keyword Search; select Keyword: Morbidity/Mortality
and Population: Infants; click on Start Search. (4) Select Measurement
and Indicator Data; scroll to State Data; select State
Outcome Measures; select Search By Keyword/Population;
select a state and Keyword: Morbidity/Mortality and Population:
Infants; click on Start Search. (5) View State
Snapshots of Maternal and Child Health for a summary
of each state's infant mortality data. TVIS is a service
of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau
(MCHB).
- VitalStats.
Presents tables, data files, and reports that allow users to
access and examine birth and perinatal mortality data interactively.
This system is provided by the National Center
for Health Statistics (NCHS).
- Also see the Morbidity
& Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR) and the National
Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
- Literature and Research
Databases
- ClinicalTrials.gov.
Provides access to information about clinical research studies
for a wide range of conditions. Included are a summary of the
purpose of the study, recruiting status, criteria for patient
participation, location of the trial, and contact information.
To identify studies, click on Search for Clinical Trials. Enter
the search phrase infant mortality OR sudden infant
death syndrome and click on Search to get your results.
Conduct another search by entering the search phrase, pregnancy
loss OR stillbirth OR miscarriage. Click on Search
to get your results. ClinicalTrials.gov is a service of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) and is developed by the National
Library of Medicine (NLM).
- Cochrane
Reviews. Presents systematic
reviews of health care interventions internationally. Go
to the box, Search abstracts & summaries, and type "infant
mortality" OR "sudden infant death syndrome". Click
on Search Reviews to get your results. Conduct another
search by entering the phrase, "pregnancy loss" OR
miscarriage OR stillbirth. Click on Search Reviews
to get your results. Access to the full-text article requires
a subscription that is available in many hospital and university
health sciences libraries. The database is published by
the Cochrane Collaboration,
an international nonprofit organization based in the United
Kingdom.
- Database
of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE). Contains
summaries of systematic reviews that have met strict quality
criteria. Included reviews have to be about the effects
of interventions. Each summary also provides a critical
commentary on the quality of the review. Search the database
by typing "infant mortality" OR "sudden infant death
syndrome" in the search box. Click on Search to get
your results. Conduct another search by typing "pregnancy
loss" OR miscarriage OR stillbirth in the search
box. Click on Search to get your results. DARE is produced
and maintained by the Centre
for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of
York.
- HP2010
Information Access Project: Maternal, Infant and Child
Health. Provides an automatic search mechanism
for published literature indexed in PubMed related
to the Healthy People 2010 MCH objectives
that include reducing fetal and infant deaths. Also links
to the narrative for the objectives and the complete chapter
about MCH in the text, Healthy
People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health (2nd ed.) (2000).
This service is provided by the Partners
in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce,
a collaboration of federal agencies, public health organizations,
and health sciences libraries.
- Maternal
and Child Health Library at the National
Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH),
Georgetown University. Maintains several databases to collect,
manage, and disseminate knowledge about MCH, with special
emphasis on knowledge gained from initiatives and programs
supported by the Maternal and Child Health
Bureau (MCHB). The library's bibliographic databases
are
Healthy
Start Collection Database. Comprises an online catalog of
over 2,000 items developed by or used in Healthy Start sites,
including brochures, bylaws, curricula, marketing materials,
policies, and national evaluation reports along with other material
related to maternal and infant health. Materials are classified
according to the nine Healthy Start models of intervention that
range from community-based consortia to risk prevention and reduction.
The Healthy Start Initiative, established by MCHB in 1991, provides
community-based, culturally competent, family-centered, and comprehensive
perinatal health services to women, infants, and their families
in communities with very high rates of infant mortality.
MCHLine®.
Comprises an online catalog of materials in the
Maternal and Child Health Library. A selection
of recent library items is listed in the bibliography, Infant
Mortality. For library items about pregnancy
loss, search MCHLine® by typing "pregnancy
loss" in the keyword field of the database
search form. Click on Search MCHLine to get
your results. Also see the bibliography, Home
Visiting.
The Maternal and Child Health Library
also offers organizations and programs databases.
Also see the library's newsletter, MCH Alert:
Tomorrow's Policy Today.
- National
Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC). Contains evidence-based
clinical practice guidelines and related materials for
health professionals. Identify guidelines by entering "infant
mortality" OR
"sudden infant death syndrome" in the Search field. Click
on Search to get your results. Conduct another search by entering "pregnancy
loss" OR miscarriage OR stillbirth in the Search field.
Click on Search to get your results. The database is an initiative
of the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ).
- National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Resource Center: A–Z Topic Index.
Offers links to electronic resources collected from national,
state, and local SIDS/Infant Death programs, as well as
MCH organizations. The resources include fact sheets, brochures,
booklets, posters, order forms, foreign-language materials,
and multimedia formats.
- Native
Health Database. Contains
citations for health-related articles, reports, surveys,
and other documents about the health and health care of
American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Nations.
To identify citations on the topic, enter "infant mortality"
OR "sudden infant death syndrome" in the Keywords field.
Click on Search to get your results. Conduct another search
by typing "fetal death" in the Keywords
field. Click on Search to get your results. The database
is a service of the University
of New Mexico Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center.
- PubMed.
Contains more than 19 million citations for biomedical articles
from MEDLINE and life science journals. Citations may include
links to full-text articles from PubMed Central or publisher
web sites. To identify citations on the topic, enter the term infant
mortality OR sudden infant death OR perinatal mortality in
the search box. Click on Limits and make the following selections
on the page: select a date (e.g. Published in the last 2 years);
click on Languages: English; click on Species: Humans; and
select Search Field Tags: MeSH Major Topic. Click on Search
to get your results. Conduct another search by entering the
search phrase fetal death OR stillbirth OR abortion,
spontaneous and using the same limits as those established
for your first search. Click on Search to get your results.
To narrow your searches further or for additional searches,
use the MeSH
(Medical Subject Headings) database to identify terms.
PubMed is a service of the National
Library of Medicine (NLM).
- Programs Databases
- American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Community Pediatrics Grants/Projects
Searchable Database. Comprises an archive of community
pediatrics grant projects. To identify projects, select
Topic: SIDS. Click on Basic Submit to get your results.
Conduct another search by scrolling to Keyword Search and
entering the term, infant mortality. Click
on Keyword Submit to get your results.
- Discretionary
Grant Information System (DGIS). Contains
program and performance measure data for more than 900
grants issued by the Maternal and Child
Health Bureau (MCHB). Conduct several sets of searches
to find grant information about infant mortality and pregnancy
loss. To identify data about Healthy Start, an initiative
to reduce the rate of infant mortality and improve perinatal
outcomes, select Program Data, Healthy Start, and a topic
to complete the search. To identify performance measure
data for MCHB programs about infant mortality and pregnancy
loss, select Performance Measures; select Performance Measure
(again); scroll and click on a birthweight or mortality
measure; click on Next; select a program; and click on
Next to view data. To search for abstracts of MCHB discretionary
grants about infant mortality and pregnancy loss, select
Abstracts; type infant mortality in the
search field; click on Exact phrase; and click on Search
to get your results. Select Abstracts
Search again; type sudden infant death syndrome in
the search field; click on Exact phrase; and click on Search
to get your results. Select Abstracts
Search one more time; type miscarriage stillbirth in
the search field; click on Any of the words; and click
on Search to get your results. To find out about products
and publications produced by MCHB training grantees on
the topic, select Program Data, Training, and Search Products
and Publications. Type infant mortality in
the search field and click on Exact phrase. Click on Search
to get your results. Select Publication
Search to conduct another search. Type sudden
infant death syndrome in the search field and
click on Exact phrase. Click on Search to get your results.
Select Publication
Search one more time. Type miscarriage stillbirth in
the search field and click on Any of the words. Click on
Search to get your results.
- Health
Services Research Projects in Progress (HSRProj).
Provides information about ongoing health services research
and public health projects. To identify projects, enter infant
mortality OR sudden infant death OR perinatal mortality in
the search box. Click on Search to get your results. Conduct
another search by entering fetal death OR stillbirth
OR abortion, spontaneous in the search box. Click
on Search to get your results. HSRProj is funded by the National
Library of Medicine (NLM).
- Maternal
and Child Health Library at the National
Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH),
Georgetown University. Maintains two databases to identify
organizations and programs that address infant mortality
and pregnancy loss:
MCH
Organizations Database. Lists
over 2,000 government, professional, and voluntary organizations
involved in MCH activities, primarily at a national level.
Organizations focusing on infant mortality prevention
appear in a list produced
from the database. For organizations about pregnancy
loss, type "pregnancy loss" in
the keyword field of the database
search form. Click on Search to get your results.
MCH
Projects Database. Comprises
an online catalog of projects funded by the Maternal
and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) through October 1, 2004.
To identify projects that focus on the topic, enter "infant
mortality" in the abstract field of the database
search form. Click on Search to get your results. Conduct
additional searches using the terms stillbirth and miscarriage.
Several final
reports from these projects are available online and
include Healthy Start impact reports. See MCHB's Discretionary
Grant Information System (DGIS) for information on
projects funded after October 1, 2004.
- National
Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO):
Model Practice Database.
Contains information about model and promising state and
local public health program practices. Search by state
or health topic. For effective programs to address infant
mortality and pregnancy loss, select Model
Practice Database and choose Find a model or promising
practice by category. Click on Maternal and Child Health.

Electronic
Newsletters and Online Discussion Forums
- Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): National Birth
Defects Prevention Network Listserv. This electronic
discussion group aims to enhance communication among public
health professionals working at the state level in birth
defects surveillance and prevention.
- Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Offers several electronic
alert services for consumer product recalls and safety
news, including those products used in homes and communities
that are potentially hazardous for infants. CPSC also produces RSS
(Really Simple Syndication) feeds to automatically
receive updates about new recalls and new podcasts with
safety news.
- Maternal
and Child Health Library: MCH Alert: Tomorrow's Policy
Today. This weekly electronic newsletter provides
timely reference to research, findings, policy developments,
recently released publications, new programs, and initiatives
affecting the MCH community. On the last Friday of each
month, the newsletter focuses on infant mortality and pregnancy
loss.
- National
Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program (NFIMR) Listserv.
This online discussion group aims to encourage an information
exchange among FIMR programs and individuals interested
in fetal and infant mortality reviews.
- National
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB).
Monday Morning
Memo. This weekly newsletter presents
summaries of news and resources about maternal
and infant health. Infant mortality and
pregnancy loss is frequently addressed.
Text4baby
Tuesday. This weekly newsletter presents
information about Text4baby, which offers free
weekly messages by cell phone to help pregnant
women and new parents through pregnancy and their
baby's first year. Signup for
Text4baby Tuesday to receive news from the national
campaign and get program updates on partners'
innovative promotion across the country.
- National
Healthy Start Association (NHSA): Getting Off to a Healthy
Start. This newsletter informs Healthy Start staff
and others in the MCH community about successful community-based
approaches to reducing infant mortality and improving perinatal
outcomes. The newsletter also highlights research and evaluation
findings, legislative activities, and conference announcements.
- National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death & Pregnancy Loss
Project IMPACT Listserv. This electronic discussion
group for state and local infant mortality and risk-reduction
programs encourages participants to share information,
promote policy and legislative changes, and foster partnerships
and communication.
- Also see Preemies
Today.

Resources for Families
Hotlines
- First
Candle/SIDS Alliance. Provides
a nationwide, 24-hour, toll-free hotline in English and
Spanish for expectant and new parents on ways to help their
babies survive and thrive, for parents who have experienced
a pregnancy loss or the death of a baby, and for professionals
working with families. The hotline telephone number is
(800) 221-7437.
- Maternal
and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) Hotline.
Offers a hotline number to help pregnant women and mothers
with newborns identify free or low-cost services for themselves
and their babies. Telephone: (800) 311-BABY (311-2229);
(800) 504-7081 (Spanish).

Expectant and
New Parents
- First
Candle: New and Expectant Parents.
Presents tips for pregnant women about having a healthy
baby, breastfeeding, and infant care, including tips for
new parents and caregivers about ways to reduce the risk
of SIDS. Offers a hotline in
English and Spanish for expectant and new parents on ways
to help their baby survive and thrive. Also see First Candle's
resources about safe sleep environments.
- March
of Dimes (MOD): Pregnancy and Newborn Health Education
Center. Offers information in English and
Spanish about preconception and prenatal care, pregnancy
complications, labor and delivery, breastfeeding, and newborn
care. Topics include safety for babies and risk factors
for SIDS. Resources include an online question-and-answer
service in English and Spanish and video and audio resources.
- National
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB).
Includes fact sheets, published interviews with experts,
and information in a question-and-answer format about preconception
planning, prenatal care, and infant care. Use HMHB's new
service:
Text4baby.
Offers free weekly messages by cell phone
in English and Spanish to help pregnant
women and new parents through pregnancy
and their baby's first year.
- Also see Resources on Factors
That Contribute to Infant Mortality and Pregnancy Loss for
many resources for expectant and new parents.
- See too the Maternal and Child Health Library
knowledge path, Preconception
and Pregnancy and the resource brief, Breastfeeding.

Pregnancy Loss
Sudden and Unexpected
Infant Death
Grieving Families
- Compassionate
Friends: Supporting Family After a Child Dies.
Offers friendship and understanding to families who have
experienced pregnancy loss and the death of a child of
any age, from any cause. Provides support to bereaved parents,
grandparents, and siblings via online
support groups and local
chapters. Also offers a collection of bereavement brochures.
- First
Candle: When a Baby Has Died. Presents resources
for families who have experienced the death of a baby,
including a hotline in
English and Spanish, information about coping with grief,
and contact information for local support groups.
- March
of Dimes (MOD): Pregnancy and Newborn Loss.
Offers information for families who have experienced a
miscarriage, stillbirth, or death of a baby. Resources
explain grief, discuss how to deal with your feelings and
ask for help, and suggest ways to remember your baby.
- National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Resource Center: Bereavement Support.
Offers publications for parents, families, caregivers,
and others touched by SIDS and other infant death. The
center also presents the following recent podcasts about
bereavement:
Home
Visiting and Grief Counseling. (2008).
Family
Perspectives on Stillbirth and Sudden Unexpected
Infant Death. (2009).
Peer-Support
Programs. (2009).
Perinatal
Grief Support for Families: The Role of Clergy,
Congregation, and Community. (2009).
- Pregnancy
Loss and Infant Death Alliance (PLIDA). Presents
practice guidelines, position statements, and a resource
list about the grief experienced by families from pregnancy
loss and the death of a baby and the comprehensive and
compassionate care needed by these families. Recent publications
include
Practice
Guidelines: Offering the Baby to Bereaved
Parents. (2008).
Practice
Guidelines: When Bereaved Parents Want to Hold
Their Baby. (2008).
- Share
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support. Presents
a collection of brochures in English and Spanish for bereaved
families experiencing pregnancy loss or the death of a
baby, contact information for local support groups, a blog,
a Facebook page, and helpful hints for those caring for
bereaved families. Recent resources include
Understanding
the Grief Process. (2009). [Brochure].

Resources on Factors That Contribute
to Infant Mortality and Pregnancy Loss
Birth Defects
Injuries
- Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC): Crib Safety and SIDS
Reduction. Presents safety news, tips, checklists,
and other materials in English and Spanish about potentially
hazardous consumer products for infants. Subscribe to
an e-mail announcement service and RSS feeds to receive
updates on new consumer product recalls and podcasts. CPSC
evaluates the safety of products sold to the public.
- Safe
Kids USA. Offers safety
tips, product recalls, information about child safety laws
and regulations, car seat inspection station contact information,
and other resources about preventing accidental injuries
among infants, children, and adolescents. Safe Kids is
a global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent
accidental childhood injury, a leading killer of children
ages 14 and under.
- Also see the National Sudden
and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy Loss Resource
Center resource about shaken
baby syndrome (abusive head trauma).

Low Birthweight and
Prematurity
- March
of Dimes: Premature Birth. Offers information
in English and Spanish about prematurity for health professionals,
women who are pregnant or are thinking about pregnancy,
and families with infants in the neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU). Presents patient-education information about
preventing premature delivery, parenting in the NICU, coping
with the NICU experience, and caring for a premature infant.
Also includes a preterm-labor-assessment toolkit, prematurity statistics and
research information, continuing education resources, fact
sheets, a series of podcasts,
information about the March
of Dimes Prematurity Campaign, information about the
costs of prematurity to families and businesses, and personal
stories. Also see MOD's fact
sheet about low birthweight.
- PreemieCare.
Presents information and support to families of infants born
preterm. Includes contact information for local support groups.
- Preemies
Today. Presents a monthly electronic
newsletter featuring research-based articles about
the health and development of premature infants and their
families, stories from the families of premature infants,
and resource suggestions. Preemies Today also offers online
support for families of premature infants.
- Promising
Practices Network (PPN) on Children, Families and Communities:
Low Birth Weight/Prematurity Resources and Tools.
Presents an issue brief and links research-based resources
about preventing low-birthweight infants.
- Surgeon
General's Conference on the Prevention of Preterm Birth.
Presents the Webcast, agenda, and background materials
and information for this June 2008 conference to increase
awareness of preterm birth in the United States, review
key findings and reports, and establish an agenda for activities
in the public and private sectors to mitigate this public
health problem.
- AWHONN Later Preterm Infant Initiative. 2007. What
Parents of Late Preterm (Near-Term) Infants Need to Know.
Johnstown, PA: Association
of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. This
fact sheet, which is geared toward parents of infants born
3 to 6 weeks early, provides information about what parents
need to know to keep their infant healthy, and it lists questions
that parents should ask before leaving the hospital. The
fact sheet is also available in Spanish.
- Behrman RE, Stith Butler
A, eds. 2007. Preterm
Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention. Washington,
DC: National Academies Press.
This books assesses the problem of preterm birth in the United
States with respect to its causes and outcomes, including higher
mortality and morbidity rates. The report recommends a multidisciplinary
research agenda aimed at improving the ability to predict whether
a woman is at risk for preterm labor, the ability to prevent
preterm labor, and understanding the health and developmental
problems to which preterm infants are vulnerable.
- Pinn VW. 2009. Pinn
Points on Women’s Health: Preterm Birth. Bethesda,
MD: Office of Research
on Women’s Health (ORWH). In this podcast, Vivian
W. Pinn, M.D., interviews Catherine Spong, M.D., about what
women can do to maximize their chances for a healthy pregnancy
and reduce the risk of giving birth prematurely. A transcript of
the podcast is also available.
- See the Kids Count data
brief, Too
Many Babies Born Before Their Time: The Growing Problem of
Preterm Births (2007), the Joint
Center for Political and Economic Studies report, Trends
in Child Health 1997-2006: Assessing Racial/Ethnic Disparities
in Low Birthweight (2009), the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, Assisted
Reproductive Technology and Trends in Low Birthweight—Massachusetts,
1997-2004 (2009), and the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) clinical report, Antenatal
Counseling Regarding Resuscitation at an Extremely Low Gestational
Age (2009).
- Also see the Maternal
and Child Health Library bibliography, Prematurity,
and the knowledge path, Preconception
and Pregnancy.

Sleep Environment
- American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Sleep Issues.
Presents resources for families, health professionals,
and child care providers about creating a safe sleep environment
for infants and reducing the risk for SIDS. Resources and
initiatives include
Changing
Concept of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome:
Diagnostic Coding Shifts, Controversies
Regarding the Sleeping Environment, and
New Variables to Consider in Reducing Risk
(rev. ed.). (2005, reaffirmed 2009).
[Policy statement].
Healthy
Child Care America Back to Sleep Campaign.
Contains brochures for parents and child
care providers and training and education
materials for health professionals about
reducing the incidence of SIDS in child
care settings. Recent materials include
- Back
to Sleep Campaign. Contains information about
this national campaign aimed at health professionals, child
care providers, and families to promote placing infants
to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS. Includes
outreach materials in English and Spanish and scientific
publications. The campaign is sponsored by the Eunice
Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development, the Maternal and
Child Health Bureau (MCHB), the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), First
Candle, and the Association of
SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs (ASIP). Recent resources
include
Curriculum
for Nurses: Continuing Education Program
on SIDS Risk Reduction. (2007).
Infant
Sleep Position and SIDS: Questions and Answers
for Health Care Professionals. (rev. ed.).
(2007). [Booklet].
- First
Candle. Presents resources for health professionals,
child care providers, and expectant and new parents about
safe sleep environments. Resources and initiatives include
Bedtime
Basics: An Infant Sleep Campaign. Presents
information and materials for this educational
outreach campaign to help prevent infant
deaths caused by unsafe sleep practices.
Recent resources include
Important
Safe Sleep Tips (rev. ed.) (2009). [Fact sheet].
Model
Behavior: The Most Important Modeling Job of Your Life.
Presents information and materials for this national professional
education campaign that urges nurses in neonatal intensive
care units and well-baby nurseries to incorporate safe sleep
policies into their existing protocols.
- National
Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and
Early Education (NRC). Presents
each state's child care licensure
regulations that includes those involving safe sleep
environments for infants. Also offers Reducing
the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (2nd ed.) (2002),
a compilation of the 10 national standards on reducing
the risk of SIDS in child care settings based on the manual, Caring
for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance
Standards—Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care (2nd
ed.) (2002).
- National
Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy
Loss Resource Center: Safe Sleep Environment.
Offers brochures for families and a bibliography of additional
materials about creating a safe sleep environment. Recent
materials include
Helping
Baby "Back to Sleep" (rev. ed.). (2009).
[Brochure].
Safe
Sleep for Your Baby Around the Clock: Birth to
12 Months (rev. ed.). (2009). [Brochure].
- Allegheny County
Health Department, Pennsylvania Chapter of the American
Academy of Pediatrics. 2007. Model
Hospital Policy Manual and Tool Kit: Incorporating Infant
Safe Sleep Practices in a Health Care Setting / Tool Kit
for Educating Parents and Caregivers About Infant Safe Sleep.
Pittsburgh, PA: Allegheny County Health Department. This
manual is intended to provide hospitals and other health
care facilities with information about implementing and modeling
safe sleep practices within their facility as well as to
educate parents and caregivers about infant safe sleep.
- Kallash H. 2008. Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Risk Reduction: Broadening Our
Perspective. A Continuing Education Curriculum for Nurses. Seattle,
WA: Seattle Children's
Hospital. This online training video for nurses describes
SIDS and a safe sleep environment, lists the critical risk-reduction
messages for families and caregivers, lists barriers to back
sleeping, describes nurses' role as educator to parents and
caregivers, and describes ways to effectively communicate
risk-reduction messages to parents and caregivers.
- Leonard V. 2009. Reducing
the Risk of SIDS for Infants in Our Care. Berkeley, CA: California
Childcare Health Program. This fact sheet for child care
providers defines SIDS and identifies risk factors. Also
available in Spanish.
- Minnesota SIDS Center, Children's Hospitals
and Clinics of Minnesota. 2007. Safe
and Asleep in a Crib of Their Own. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota
Department of Health. This illustrated brochure for parents
and caregivers provides safe sleep tips for newborns. It discusses
suffocation dangers of sleeping with adults, soft surfaces
and bedding, and inappropriate sleeping spaces.
- Also see the Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC).

Infant Mortality and Pregnancy Loss: Knowledge
Path, 5th ed. (August 2009). (Updated: March 2010).
Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., Maternal and Child Health
Library.
Reviewers: Suzanne Bronheim, Ph.D., National Center for Cultural
Competence; Amanda Perez, M.S.W., Early Head Start National Resource
Center at ZERO TO THREE; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., Maternal
and Child Health Library.
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