States can improve pregnancy outcomes by using a standard approach to assess infant mortality. The State Infant Mortality Collaborative (SIMC) developed a series of analyses to describe infant mortality in states, identify contributing factors to infant death, and develop the evidence base for implementing new or modifying existing programs and policies addressing infant mortality. The SIMC was conducted between 2004 and 2006 among five states: Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Missouri, and North Carolina. States used analytic strategies in an iterative process to investigate contributors to infant mortality. Analyses were conducted within three domains: data reporting (quality, reporting, definitional criteria, and timeliness), cause and timing of infant death (classification of cause and fetal, neonatal, and postneonatal timing), and maturity and weight at birth/maturity and birth weight-specific mortality. All states identified the SIMC analyses as useful for examining infant mortality trends. In each of the three domains, SIMC results were used © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012 Correspondence to: Caroline Stampfel, cstampfel@amchp.org. Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All partners contributed to the initial design, eligibility criteria, five-state selection process, and/or ongoing scientific and technical assistance. We examine the benefits of this standard approach for assessing infant mortality by: (1) describing the SIMC process, including a comparison of five state analyses on direct contributors to infant mortality; (2) defining the strategies identified for each analysis; and (3) summarizing application of analytic findings to modify existing policies or programs.
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DescriptionBetween 2004 and 2006, the SIMC was implemented to aid states in investigation of infant mortality through facilitated meetings with subject matter experts, review and recommendation of appropriate data sources, development of standard approaches for analyses of infant mortality causes and contributors, and interpretation of findings both consistent with the literature and useful for each participating state for programmatic and policy-making decisions.Using available infant mortality data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, eligibility for application to the collaborative was determined using information reflecting high or increasing burden of infant mortality. The following information was used to score state
Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author Manuscript eligibility: (1) three types of trend analyses, (2) the states' average IMR, and (3) states' raceadjusted IMR. Of 22 states which met the minimum scoring, the top 13 were determined to be eligible for the project; eight states applied and five were selected to participate, including Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Missouri, and North Carolina. Each selected s...