The Tarrant County Infant Health Network (“the Network”) is a community-based collaborative that works to improve pregnancy outcomes and community-based clinical and social services that support newborn babies and their families prenatally and throughout their second year of life. Tarrant County, like many other areas of the country, has a significant disparity in black-white infant mortality. Whi
le the average infant mortality rate for the country as a whole is 7.5 infant deaths/1000 live births, the rate for White infants is 7.0 while for Black infants it is 16.1. This means that a Black infant born in Tarrant County is more than two and half times as likely to die within his or her first year as a White baby. In August 2002, a series of articles was published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about the issue of infant mortality in our community. On September 12, 2002, Catholic Charities, with sponsorship from Cook Children’s Hospital and AmeriGroup, hosted an Infant Mortality Summit in order to raise awareness among local decision makers and initiate a community Task Force to address this important issue. Infant mortality is a complex social problem. There is not one single cause of infant mortality or one single solution. There are economic, social, environmental and behavioral factors that can influence poor birth outcomes. Historically, most of the focus has been on the individuals role in her own health. However, a growing understanding of the role of social influences on health has broadened the responsibility for creating healthy communities. These social influences include such factors as poverty, unemployment, racism, housing, transportation, social support, crime and other neighborhood conditions that can directly influence health behaviors and/or health outcomes.
