Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. April 3, 2024.
Editorial: Indiana maternal mortality rate improves with increased attention
Pregnancy can be a joyous time but also a dangerous one, particularly in the U.S. According to the Commonwealth Fund, American women have the highest maternal mortality rate among the world’s high-income countries.
That rate has been increasing since 2000, but Indiana received some good news last week with the release of the latest report of the Indiana Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Deaths among pregnant or recently pregnant women fell from 92 in 2020 to 80 in 2021.
It’s good news, but one year does not a trend make and, unfortunately, many of the same underlying issues remain. Committee members found 71% of pregnancy-associated deaths and 77% of pregnancy-related deaths were preventable, proving there’s still much to do as the state works further to reduce the deaths of expectant and recently pregnant women.
Pregnancy-associated deaths include any deaths within one year, no matter the cause, while pregnancy-related deaths include those “from a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by the pregnancy or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy,” the report said.
Prenatal care is the keystone of maternal death prevention. But just 47% of the Hoosier women reviewed by the mortality review committee entered into prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy, and 24% received no care at all.
Other factors affecting Indiana’s maternal mortality rate, the committee said, include drug use, which accounted for 28% of fatalities; a lack of hospitals with inpatient delivery services in 37 of the state’s 92 counties; and maternal mortality’s disproportionate effect on low-income women.
Despite fewer births overall, Black women in Indiana continue to have a higher maternal mortality rate, 73% higher in 2021 than their white peers. Black, non-Hispanic women constituted 13% of live births but had a mortality rate of 156.3 per every 100,000 births. In contrast, white, non-Hispanic women made up 72% of live births and reported a mortality rate of 90.76 per every 100,000 births.
Last year, Fort Wayne’s Healthier Moms & Babies released its Community Infant Mortality Report. It found 34% of almost 1,000 local anonymous respondents said they took some or none of their prescribed pregnancy medications, and many women skipped routine checkups that could’ve identified potential pregnancy risks.
“By transforming these challenges into opportunities for change, we can ensure that every baby in our community has the chance to celebrate many more birthdays,” Paige Wilkins, executive director of Healthier Moms & Babies, said in an opinion column we published last month.
During the 2023 legislative session, the state appropriated $225 million over two years to improve health outcomes. Prior to last year, Indiana’s county health departments had among the 10 lowest expenditures per capita in the nation.
In January, the Allen County Department of Health awarded 29 local organizations grants totaling more than $2 million to help meet the community’s health needs. In the area of “maternal & child health,” a core public health service area required of local health departments by the state, the county appropriated:
• $60,000 to A Mother’s Hope Inc. for housing, support and case management services for pregnant women experiencing homelessness.
• $60,000 to the Associated Churches of Fort Wayne & Allen County for the expansion and support of both A Baby’s Closet and Journey Beside Mothers programs that support low-income expectant mothers and families.
• $50,000 to Bridge of Grace Ministries for the expansion of services in child development and infant and childhood mental health.
• $110,000 for Healthier Moms & Babies to focus on improving mortality rates within vulnerable populations.
• And $50,000 to Lutheran Social Services Inc. for case management services assisting pregnant or parenting teenagers.
Good health ensures Hoosiers thrive. The state’s new health funding creates an opportunity to finally move Hoosier health metrics in a positive direction, and we applaud the Allen County health department for collaborating with existing agencies to provide targeted services rather than duplicating efforts as the community focuses on improving maternal health.
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The Herald Bulletin. April 5, 2024.
Editorial: Temper eclipse excitement with patience
Where will you be in the year 2153?
Barring a cryogenics experiment gone right or a miracle breakthrough that defies death, you’ll be nowhere to be found on this little blue planet.
None of us will.
That’s why it’s important to mark Monday, April 8, 2024, on your calendar.
It will be your last chance — before 2153 — to see a total solar eclipse in Indiana.
Ask anyone who has ever witnessed such an eclipse in person and they’ll tell you how spectacular, how breathtaking, how memorable it is.
As the moon encroaches on the beam of sunlight warming our little patch of Earth, the sky will fade to black in the middle of the afternoon.
Day birds will stop singing. Night insects will start chirping.
And then, as the moon rolls away from our beam of sunlight, dawn will brighten the sky for the second time that day.
The eclipse will begin about 1:45 p.m. and end about 4:30 p.m. in Indiana. The duration of the total eclipse will be much shorter, as little as 15 seconds in some areas and as much as four minutes in others. The majority of the state will be in the path of totality, a 125-mile-wide band stretching from the southwest corner diagonally through the east-central portion of the state.
Even it you’re not in the band of totality, you’ll still get a spectacular show when the moon covers all but a slice of the sun.
The solar eclipse will be particularly brilliant if the sky is clear and you can see the sun’s corona, the glowing outer portion of the massive ball of heat. The corona is normally hidden from the human eye by the sun’s extraordinary core brightness.
Speaking of the human eye, don’t watch the solar eclipse without a pair of eclipse glasses approved by the American Astronomical Society. Otherwise, you could suffer irreversible damage to your retina. If you don’t have a set of eclipse glasses, check around. Many community organizations have them available for free or a small price.
Special glasses in hand, you really need only two other things to fully enjoy the Great Eclipse of 2024: a plan and a healthy dose of patience.
Be aware that many parts of Indiana will be swamped with visitors wanting to see the eclipse. Economic development experts project that it will be the biggest single-day tourism event in Hoosier history. Many thoroughfares will be jammed with local and out-of-town traffic before and after the eclipse.
So plan to be where you want to view April 8’s celestial spectacle hours ahead of time, and plan to stay hours afterward. Have the patience to wait out any traffic snarls you encounter.
Above all, don’t put yourself in a situation where, at the last instant, you have to stop along a highway and step out of your car to gaze at the sky. The danger in this fallback is inherent.
While you certainly can’t expect to live until the next eclipse in 2153, you’ll definitely want to see the one on April 8 — and live to tell about it.
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Terre Haute Tribune-Star. April 1, 2024.
Editorial: Never too soon to be prepared
Easter Sunday was a somber holiday for the people of Sullivan as they observed the one-year anniversary of a deadly tornado that tore through the south side of their community with devastating force and consequences.
The EF-3 twister was part of a super cell storm system that developed late on March 31, 2023, southwest of Crawford County, Illinois. It first struck near Robinson, killing three people and leaving a trail of damage. It then crossed the Wabash River into Indiana, striking first southwest of Sullivan before ripping its way through the town. In its wake, it left three more dead, numerous others injured and a neighborhood destroyed.
The tornado retreated into the clouds, but the system spawned another tornado a short time later in Owen County near Spencer, where it struck hardest in a McCormick’s Creek State Park campground, killing two additional individuals.
Recovery for Sullivan has been a long, hard road. As the community mourned the three lives lost, it tended to the injured, helped those who suffered extensive property damage and set out on a path of repairing and rebuilding for the long term.
The work done in Sullivan in the past 12 months has been inspiring and impressive. Progress hasn’t come easy, and at times has been painfully slow. But the commitment and dedication of those who stepped forward to lead the efforts merit admiration and praise.
As if we need more reminders of what Mother Nature is capable of when it wields its power, the Midwest has already been subjected to deadly spring weather this year. It’s always wise to be prepared for when storm clouds begin to form.
Weather alerts are available from various emergency management services and can come directly to your mobile phone. Having those set up is a good idea and will help you stay aware of potentially dangerous weather conditions, especially in spring and summer.
Emergency officials also suggest families put together a few supplies as well as a plan of what to do if severe weather strikes at home, at work, at school or out shopping should crucial services such as power or water be interrupted.
Anyone who saw the images from the recent storm near Winchester east of Muncie can see how vital services can disappear in a matter of minutes.
Officials recommend families gather enough non-perishable food and water for each person — one gallon per person per day — for at least a week. And don’t forget family pets.
Kits should contain extra medications; battery-operated radios with extra batteries; flashlights with extra batteries; phone chargers to use if power is available or in a vehicle; a substantial first aid kit; cash — ATMs don’t work when the power is off — and copies of important documents.
Families should also rehearse their response plans so everyone knows what to do. Where will family members meet? Where are the safe places at work or school? Where do you go if a storm hits while you’re in a store? How will members let each other know whether he or she is safe? Text messages are more likely to work than calls during rough weather.
Midwesterners can sometimes become jaded about weather warnings. They can be easy to tune out. That’s a mistake. The stakes are high, to which the folks in Sullivan and Winchester can attest.
Take steps now to prepare for hazardous weather. Waiting until thunderheads darken the horizon may be too late.
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