DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Concerning new data show Ohio is among the top states with a higher-than-average infant and maternal mortality rate. Last week, the CDC awarded the state approximately $3 million to find out how to prevent these deaths.
The money, spread out over five annual installments, will be given to organizations that research these deaths and make suggestions for improvements.
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The funding comes as part of a new $118.5 million federal investment that the CDC said will provide tangible solutions to addressing preventable deaths by strengthening their most recent data.
“You can’t prevent — or you can’t treat — what you don’t measure,” said Shanna Cox, associate director for Science, Division of Reproductive Health for the CDC.
The CDC said the new data collected will represent research from 46 states and six U.S. territories. The agency found that almost half of all pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. happen one week to one year after pregnancy, with 80 percent of those deaths preventable.