| Memphis, TN. - Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen joined Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton today to announce establishment of a Fetal Infant Mortality Review team in Shelby County. The state is providing funding for the start up of FIMR teams in Davidson, Hamilton and Shelby counties, as well as a 10-county region in East Tennessee, in an effort to increase fetal and infant survival rates among Tennessee babies.
"The Governor`s Office of Children`s Care Coordination, local officials and partnering organizations are putting in place the best and most successful programs from across the country to give babies the very best chance of reaching their first birthday," said Bredesen. "While we`ve seen some preliminary indications that the number of infant deaths is on the decline, we must continue to do everything we can to improve the health outcomes for this vulnerable population."
FIMR teams explore environmental, social, economic and medical facts to determine the exact cause of death of children less than one year old, including during the mother’s pregnancy. FIMR teams learn from a family who`s experienced an infant loss by interviewing them to see if there were services that could have helped prevent the death. This information allows professionals to improve available community resources and service delivery systems.
The FIMR initiative is particularly crucial in Shelby County, where infant mortality rates are significantly higher than in the rest of the state. Based on data from 2007, the overall state infant mortality rate is 8.3 while Shelby County`s rate is 12.7. The rate for African-American deaths in Shelby County is also disproportionately high at nearly three times the rate for white deaths. Overall, Tennessee`s infant mortality rate is ranked 45th compared to other states. FIMR teams in Hamilton and Davidson counties and the East Tennessee region are in various stages of implementation.
"The establishment of a FIMR team in Shelby County sets in motion our ability to combat underlying causes of fetal and infant deaths," said Mayor Wharton. "The FIMR will provide Shelby County healthcare professionals with researched based data that will allow us to take a proactive approach to our infant mortality reduction initiatives."
In 2006, Governor Bredesen joined Mayor Wharton and more than 200 stakeholders from state and county government, and legislative, not-for profit, education, faith-based and health care communities to develop and outline a strategy to address infant mortality in Tennessee. Since the strategy`s implementation, more than $15 million has been invested statewide on work that spans programs in health and training education, home visiting, and clinical care for mothers and babies in local communities like Memphis, Chattanooga and Nashville.
The Governor`s Office of Children`s Care Coordination, the Children`s Cabinet and the state Department of Health continue to explore and develop new partnerships and collaborations with other state governmental agencies; local, municipal and county governments; community-based organizations; and business and faith-based communities that share the vision of seeing more babies survive to their first birthdays.
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