Marla Shanks, left, a breastfeeding peer helper for the Ross County Health District's Women, Infants and Children program, talks with Jessica Dozer about her 8-day-old son, Wesley Roberts, during a recent visit to the WIC office.
Infant mortality rates in Ross County and across the nation have decreased dramatically over the past 100 years, but the United States today finds itself lagging behind other developed nations.
September is National Infant Mortality Month, and the Ross County Health District is looking at ways to decrease the local infant mortality rate. Infant mortality is defined as the death of a baby before his or her first birthday, and the rate is calculated per 1,000 live births.
In 1900, the national rate was 100 deaths per 1,000 infants born. By 2000, the rate had dropped to 6.89. The national rate ...