DENMARK, S.C. -- An awareness luncheon is among the ways a local maternal wellness program is focusing attention on infant mortality rates in South Carolina, particularly among blacks.

September is National Infant Mortality Awareness Month. Denmark-based Low Country Health Start has been championing the issue in Allendale, Bamberg, Hampton and Orangeburg counties since 1997.

"We have made significant strides in providing intensive case management, outreach and health education services. We have educated women on the need to seek care early, receive adequate prenatal care and take control of their health," said LCHS Program Director Virginia Berry White.

The agency's second annual awareness luncheon will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at The Cinema. Tonya Lewis Lee, wife of award-winning filmmaker, actor and producer Spike Lee, will serve as keynote speaker.

White said the agency has addressed gaps and barriers in perinatal service delivery and tackled high rates of infant mortality and low-birth-weight babies, but work remains in rural, underserved communities.

"In the LCHS service area and across the state, African-American infants continue to be the group that are over 2.6 times more likely to die within the first year of life. Stress, poverty, poor health before becoming pregnant, lack of access to health-care providers and getting pregnant too soon after the last pregnancy contribute to infants weighing too little and infants dying before their first birthday," White said. "We know the major cause of infant mortality is low birth weight."

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control reports that in 2006, the infant mortality rate in South Carolina for blacks was 13.2 per 1,000 live births, compared to 5.7 for whites.

The 2007 infant mortality rate for blacks and other minority populations dropped for the second year in a row, to 12.9, the lowest rate in the last decade, DHEC reports. However, the rate was still more than two times than the rate of 6.2 for whites, whose rate was up half a point from 2006.

"It changes a little bit, and it would be interesting to watch how that trend continues because we have worked very hard to address the disparity," said Brenda Martin, director of DHEC's Bureau of Maternal and Child Health. "The important thing is to plan your pregnancy and to be healthy."

DHEC Commissioner Earl Hunter said while the improvement among the "black and other minorities" rate is encouraging, the state's overall infant mortality rate still needs to be addressed.

"Eliminating health disparities continues to be a top public health priority in this and many other areas," he said.

DHEC reports that of the 62,933 babies born in the state during 2007, 538 died before their first birthday. The leading cause of death was premature birth and low birth weight. Congenital malformations, sudden infant death syndrome and accidents were also among the leading causes of infant death.

LCHS was awarded federal funds in June from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Maternal and Child Health Bureau to administer a Maternal Child Health program, a community-based initiative to eliminate disparities in perinatal health and improve infant mortality rates in the four-county service region.

A Postpartum Centering group is one facet of the program and will involve peer-to-peer learning.

"They will be dialoguing with their peers, sharing their experiences and thoughts and thus empowering each to take control of their health. An outreach advocate will be providing services to pregnant women who have not returned for prenatal care," White said. The advocate will also provide women with resource links and health education on topics such as sexually transmitted diseases.

Texting, mass calling and Facebook are among the new techniques through which agency officials are keeping in touch with clients.

"A key focus will be encouraging a productive, healthy life. LCHS implemented in June a Leadership Program to help the women live a life of productivity and independence" in a region plagued with unemployment, a lack of adequate housing, and a high population of underinsured and uninsured individuals, White said.

She said pregnant women in their first trimester will continue to be recruited to get them in care as soon as possible.

"In developing a Reproductive Health Plan, planned and unplanned pregnancy will be addressed along with contraceptive use ... and adverse health status such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension," White said. "LCHS, through its case management team, will also conduct multi-disciplinary team meetings with certified midwives, nurse practitioners and nurses who are the prenatal, delivery and postpartum providers of our program participants."

Tickets for the Sept. 30 luncheon are $25, and reservations are required by Friday, Sept. 18. Checks, made payable to LCHS, should be mailed to: Low Country Healthy Start, P.O. Box 367, Denmark, SC 29042. For more information, call 803-793-6000 or toll-free at 1-877-217-1919.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

'Somebody in your corner'

Low Country Healthy Start, a Denmark-based maternal wellness program, is one of 100 Healthy Start sites in the nation whose services include outreach, home visitation, case management, health education, perinatal depression screening and interconceptional care. Below, a couple of clients share their experiences.

Brittany Fuller

The 21-year-old Eutawville resident gave birth to her daughter, Arianna, seven weeks early. Weighing just 3 pounds, 11 ounces, Arianna is now 4 months old and healthy, but Fuller said she has learned not to take anything for granted. She said having been enrolled in LCHS since March has helped her to manage her and her baby's health, particularly since she was diagnosed as being preeclampsic late in her pregnancy following a sudden rise in her blood pressure.

"I have learned that no matter how healthy you are, anything can happen," she said, noting that prenatal care was especially important. "If I didn't have prenatal care, I wouldn't have known what was going on. I wouldn't have known what doctor to go to or what to expect from my pregnancy."

Fuller said LCHS has provided her with vital health education needed to raise a healthy child.

"That's what they do. They give you tips and let you know about services," she said. "I was just talking to a friend of mine who's pregnant now. She's having complications with her baby, so when it comes down to things like that, you're going to need somebody in your corner that can be there for you and help you out."

Brittany Washington

The 20-year-old Orangeburg resident gave birth to her son, Tijeras, early. Her 17-month-old weighed just 4 pounds, 3 ounces at birth and faced a litany of potential health problems.

"With him being low birth weight, his stomach started swelling. He had to have a colonoscopy done, so I had a home nurse to come and help me," Washington said. "He was in and out of the hospital until he was almost 12 months old. With him having a colonoscopy bag, I had to learn how to clean it and everything. He wasn't just a low-birth-weight baby; he was very sick."

Washington, who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during her pregnancy, said LCHS helped put her in touch with other young mothers and made her feel like she wasn't going through her struggles alone.

"It was kind of hard, with my baby being high-risk. I had never had a baby before and was so young, but Low Country Healthy Start has helped me a lot with the development of my child," she said. "It was nice to know that somebody else cared besides me. They have a lot of programs ... that can also get you through your depression about being a new mother. They tell you how to find jobs and other things, too."

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