Screnshot from the trailer of Reducing Infant Mortality

Screnshot from the trailer of Reducing Infant Mortality

Just saw on UnneCesarean a post about a free online film being released on July 26th: Reducing Infant Mortality and Improving the Health of Babies.  It highlights the sad fact that too many babies are dying in the U.S. around the time of birth.   As health care is debated on Capitol Hill this summer,  this film is hoping to bring light to a particularly dark corner of our health care system.

I knew that in the US,  we ranked very poorly overall, especially when compared to other developed nations (42nd in fact).  I learned watching the trailer that it is even more perilous for African American babies in the U.S. With a rate of 16 deaths per 100 births, African American babies are close to 2.5 times more likely to die around the time of birth than babies from the general population in the U.S.  This is scandalous.

Experts interviewed for the film are Obstetricians, Family Physicians, Midwives, MD’s, Doulas, and PhD’s including:  Michel Odent, Thomas Verny, Marshall Klaus, Phyllis Klaus, Marsdsen Wagner, David Chamberlain, Karen Strange, Robbie Davis-Floyd, Jennie Joseph, Sarah Buckley, Bruce Smith, Yeshi Neumann, Paul Fleiss, Maria Iorillo, Stuart Fischbein, Debra Bonaro-Pascali and Judith Prager.

Watch the trailer here:    Reducing Infant Mortality

Get Involved Here:  Reducing Infant Mortality: Take Action