Special programs have delivered results, but D.C. plans to do more to reduce the number of babies who die before their first birthday.
Rebekah Brown, a college student and mother of 8-month-old Roman, benefitted from the city's prenatal care. At Mayor Vincent Gray’s news conference on infant mortality, she spoke of the many support resources available to mothers in the city. She appears in a new video on prenatal care.
The city announced a slight uptick in infant mortality in 2012, but health officials said infant deaths within one year of birth have been reduced by 27 percent since 2008 and are expected to decline further.
Gray said city prenatal programs will continue despite the loss of a $4 million federal grant and 38 grant employees. Other health programs will take up the loss.
