Saint Joseph County Health Department seeks grant money to continue fight against infant/maternal mortality

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- The Indiana Department of Health released provisional data last month showing a historic decrease in the state's infant mortality rate.

According to the data, in 2024, the infant mortality rate was 6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is a decrease from 6.6 in 2023.

If the data stays on track, it would be the lowest rate of infant deaths in Indiana since 1900. However, those numbers didn't always show a positive trend.

In years past, Indiana was known to have one of the worst maternal/infant mortality rates in the country. The latest CDC data puts Indiana in the bottom 10 states.

St. Joseph County falls in the bottom half out of the state's 92 counties, but they're working to flip the script and improve those numbers, despite funding challenges from the government.

According to latest data, the leading cause of death for infants in St. Joseph County is complications of prematurity.

The Health Department of St. Joseph County is taking advantage of available grant opportunities that weren't slashed by state and federal funding cuts.

The department is due to reapply for what's called the 'Safety PIN Grant', PIN standing for Protecting Indiana's Newborns.

It's the second time the health department is applying for this state grant. The money they've received from it over the last two years is funding critical programming for local moms to raise healthy babies.

"We want to help protect those moms and babies," says Dr. Michelle Migliore, Health Officer for the Department of Health of St. Joseph County. "We want every baby to start out in as successful a position as possible."

Health Officer Dr. Michelle Migliore says it's about using resources to protect the most vulnerable in our community, that means giving extra care to local moms before and after birth.

"We have a home visit program where we send community health workers to follow up with moms who need a little bit of support after baby comes, and then we also have a support group that moms can attend too for emotional support and being with other moms in the same position," explains Dr. Migliore.

The health department also uses those funds to offer a free variety of maternal health classes called the EMBER initiative: Empowering Moms and Babies through Education and Resilience.

The classes are held at the Beacon Resource Center off Lincolnway West in South Bend, which is within the zip code for the highest maternal/infant mortality rate in the county.

It's helped nearly 200 local moms since being introduced in September.

"We're using data to show us where we can help do the most good where there's the most need," Dr. Migliore says.

She adds that focusing on the health of the mom and baby subgroup contributes to the overall health of the broader community.

"Community health is so important," says Dr. Migliore. "We're very passionate about our public health and our community and doing everything we can to promote that health."

Dr. Migliore says it's unclear just how much money the grant would reward the department because it's based on the county's performance over the last two years.