The infant mortality rate for Brunswick County doubled from 2010 to 2011, according to statistics released Tuesday by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Rates for New Hanover and Pender counties were well below the state rate of 7.2 for 2011, and were both down from the previous year. The state rate was up 2.9 percent from 2010, but down 12.2 percent from 2002.
The rate is based on the number of deaths for every 1,000 live births.
Brunswick County’s infant mortality rate for 2011 was 7.6, up 100 percent from 2010 and up 55.1 percent from 2002.
Brunswick County Health Director David Stanley said he planned to go over the statistics Wednesday with his staff, but cautioned that changes in small numbers of deaths could make it difficult to glean information from the data.
For 2011, Brunswick County saw eight deaths out of 1,047 live births, according to the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics.
Stanley noted that Brunswick’s rate of 7.6 was not far from the state rate and was close to the 7.2 rate for another rural county, Craven, which had 12 deaths out of 1,644 live births.
The 2010 state rate of 7 was the lowest in the state’s recorded history, according to Action for Children North Carolina, a statewide, nonpartisan, nonprofit policy research and advocacy organization.
“Historically, North Carolina’s infant mortality rate has been among the highest in the nation,” said Laila A. Bell, director of research and data at Action for Children. “Lowering our state’s infant mortality rate should be seen as a critical part of our efforts to improve public health in North Carolina.”
The organization said infant mortality is reflective of factors such as maternal health, public health practices and socioeconomic conditions, as well as the ability of infants and pregnant women to access health care.
New Hanover Health Director David Rice said although the county’s rate was nearly half the state rate, “it’s still too high.”
He gave credit for the rate of 4 to a partnership between medical providers and the health department staff.
Childhood immunizations have made a big difference in lowering infant mortality rates, he said. New Hanover recently scored 96 percent when the state looked at vaccinations for people who should be vaccinated, he said.
The health department tracks 80 diseases and conditions that must be reported by physicians, Rice said.
“When pertussis pops up, we immediately track those situations,” he said. “We get to it before it becomes mortality.”
Health department programs focus on such things as positive parenting, nutrition, breast feeding and injury prevention, Rice said.
Pender County Health Director Carolyn Moser said she prefers to look at three- to five-year rates rather than one-year rates for infant mortality. In 2011, the county saw three infant deaths out of 614 live births for a rate of 4.9, down 57.8 percent from 2010.
“One or two deaths could send us off the chart,” Moser said.
Still, she said, the county continues to address high-risk pregnancies and has increased community outreach.
“We have gotten into more homes and physicians’ offices providing information to pregnant women,” Moser said.
Jim Ware: 343-2387
On Twitter: @jimware
Infant mortality rates
| County | 2011 | 2010 | 2002 |
| Brunswick | 7.6 | 3.8 | 4.9 |
| New Hanover | 4.0 | 4.9 | 3.4 |
| Pender | 4.9 | 11.6 | 10.3 |
| North Carolina | 7.2 | 7.0 | 8.2 |
Source: N.C. State Center for Health Statistics