tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688291830429158315.post5021647994254774840..comments2023-05-11T21:29:47.449-07:00Comments on One Of Those Women: Dear BBC World Service.... KGAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13479061759803882187noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688291830429158315.post-52779226240607091862010-07-06T03:57:36.358-07:002010-07-06T03:57:36.358-07:00Alison, You ask if something has changed in my ar...Alison, You ask if something has changed in my area. In 2005, we missed getting Hurricane Katrina, but we got hit by back-to-back hurricanes(4). Charlie was the worst--people had blue tarps on their roofs for up to 18 months. Roofing supplies were difficult to obtain. We are a tourist area (Daytona 500-racing, and drivable white sand beaches). Tourists don't come to visit because the area was a disaster. Economically this county is one of the poorest, wages are the lowest, jobs scarce. Then the housing crisis --on my street many houses abandoned or up for sale. Factor in racial discrimination in housing, jobs, and no medical care (there has been an on-going problem for pregnant mothers who qualify for free care not getting that free care).<br />Babies are dying from pneumonia,gastero-intestinal diseases, SIDS. Exclusive breastfeeding does protect infants from these diseases. No deaths in those years from hiv/aids-despite Florida being supposedly 3rd highest state in country for hiv/aids cases.<br />This is infant mortality, so babies range up to a year old. I have not seen age of death of these infants.<br />Thanks for the percentages. I prefer to use rate (not sure why I wrote percentages because my mind was not seeing percentages). The belief seems to be by health officials in this county that the whole problem is that poor women are not getting access to medical care. They never publicly use the black infant mortality rate. Instead use the combined rate of all races (9.7 deaths per thousand). In fact there is a category called non-white (includes hispanic, oriental, and black infant mortality). The non-white infant mortality rate is lower than black infant mortality because hispanic and orientals in this community have lower infant mortality. The focus of public health officials has not been on the issue of infant feeding but rather on access to health care. I have written to the newspaper several times and never had my letters to the editor printed. I have emailed my local Healthy Start Coalition and received a response but under the impression that support for lowering infant mortality will be only for getting increased medical care for pregnant mothers not breastfeeding. (in interviews with local paper Healthy Start Coalition members never mention breastfeeding)Valerie W. McClainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14926776029719391924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688291830429158315.post-50751422730787379122010-07-05T12:29:07.964-07:002010-07-05T12:29:07.964-07:00Hi Valerie - that's HUGE! Why such a change in...Hi Valerie - that's HUGE! Why such a change in such a short time?<br /><br />Has something changed? What are these children dying of - any ideas? And how old are they - a couple of months or older?<br /><br />(as percentages these figures look like 0.6%, 1.2% and 2.4% respectively by the way, in case you want to show them like that again!)Alison Sauernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688291830429158315.post-77978775789066829612010-07-04T02:16:26.932-07:002010-07-04T02:16:26.932-07:00Percentage is not what I meant, although it is wha...Percentage is not what I meant, although it is what I wrote.<br />It should read: in 2006 there was 6black infant deaths per thousand, in 2007 there was 12 black infant deaths per thousand, and in 2008, there was 24 black infant deaths per thousand. Overall infant mortality for my county in 2008 (all races) was 9.7 infant deaths per 1000.Valerie W. McClainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14926776029719391924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688291830429158315.post-84503589616205885252010-07-03T17:46:06.625-07:002010-07-03T17:46:06.625-07:00This should look better:
6 deaths per thousand in ...This should look better:<br />6 deaths per thousand in 2006<br />12 deaths per thousand in 2007<br />24 deaths per thousand in 2008Valerie W. McClainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14926776029719391924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688291830429158315.post-25577994241973634142010-07-03T15:56:06.322-07:002010-07-03T15:56:06.322-07:00Valerie, those stats look wrong to me. Have you m...Valerie, those stats look wrong to me. Have you mixed up percentages?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13479061759803882187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688291830429158315.post-17618473057190691682010-07-03T12:29:28.704-07:002010-07-03T12:29:28.704-07:00well said. The blinders of privlege cause so mush ...well said. The blinders of privlege cause so mush damage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688291830429158315.post-1231375204179841132010-07-03T10:54:07.430-07:002010-07-03T10:54:07.430-07:00Excellent letter!Excellent letter!Helenhttp://www.naturalmothering.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688291830429158315.post-50727982259357694102010-07-03T10:16:14.916-07:002010-07-03T10:16:14.916-07:00Karleen wrote an excellent letter to the BBC World...Karleen wrote an excellent letter to the BBC World Service. I'd like to add that some researchers also believe that infant formula has an impact on morbidity and mortality in developed nations, too.<br />"Assuming causality, however, promoting breastfeeding has the potential to save or delay approximately 720 postneonatal deaths in the United States each year." Chen A, Rogan WJ, "Breastfeeding and the risk of postneonatal death in the United States," Pediatrics 2004 May;113(5)e 435-9.<br />From the Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies 9/28/07 article, "Joint Center Says New Approach to reduce Black Infant Mortality," a key recommendation from this Center is for an education campaign to increase the rate of breastfeeding in African American women.<br />Where I live on the east coast of Florida,USA, my county has seen the black infant mortality rate double each year from 2006-2008 (6% in 2006, 12% in 2007, to 24% in 2008). I believe breastfeeding can be life-saving for many babies and not just babies in developing countries.Valerie W. McClainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14926776029719391924noreply@blogger.com