South Carolina sees ‘alarming’ rise in infant, mom deaths
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - New data released in separate reports shows a dramatic increase in South Carolina’s infant mortality and maternal mortality rates.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s 2023 Infant Mortality Report shows the state’s infant mortality rate rose by 12% from 2020 to 2021 (the most recent data available) and has grown by almost 40% since 2017 for infants born to non-Hispanic Black mothers.
The report shows the number of children who died from sudden infant death syndrome more than doubled the total from the previous year, and the total number of infant deaths, 416, was the highest in nearly a decade.
Black infants continued to suffer disproportionately, dying at a rate nearly 2.5 times that of white infants.
The three leading causes of infant death in South Carolina in 2021 were:
- Congenital malformations or birth defects.
- Disorders related to short gestation and low birthweight.
- Causes related to maternal complications of pregnancy.
Deaths due to SIDS ranked fourth, while accidents were the fifth-leading cause of infant deaths in 2021, with 25 of the 26 accidental deaths due to suffocation or strangulation in bed.
“This increase in the infant mortality rate is alarming and counter to what our year-round prevention efforts aim to impact,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, the agency’s director of public health. “As a mom, my heart aches for those parents who have experienced the unimaginable loss of a child.”
Traxler said the agency would use the data to help figure out how to improve the statistics.
The agency also released the latest report by the South Carolina Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Review Committee, which investigated 66 pregnancy-associated deaths from 2019 (the most recent data available) and determined 22 deaths to be directly related to the pregnancy itself, an increase of 9.3% from the year before.
It found Black mothers experienced a 67% higher pregnancy-related mortality ratio than White mothers in both 2018 and 2019.
The top three underlying causes of maternal deaths for 2018 and 2019 were:
- Cardiomyopathy.
- Mental health conditions.
- Hemorrhage.
“DHEC, together with its partners, is committed to a renewed focus and effort on identifying the best evidence-based strategies and actions to decrease maternal and infant mortality in South Carolina, with a significant emphasis on decreasing the disparities that exist with the mortality rates,” Traxler said.
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