Reducing Infant Mortality Rates in the U.S.

Infant mortality rates among African American babies are nearly twice as high as those of the general population. It is a statistic that translates into nearly 8,000 deaths per year and a health disparity that is currently being addressed through the “A Healthy Baby Begins with You” campaign.

Initiated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Minority Health, the national campaign raises awareness about infant mortality with an emphasis on the African American community. Penn Nursing is the only nursing institution and the only non-Historically Black College or University to be part of its Preconception Peer Educator (PPE) program, a service that trains college students to educate their colleagues (on campus and in their communities) on preconception health, one of the most important and less emphasized aspects influencing birth outcomes.

Penn Nursing students Stephanie Chu, Tushana Fowlin, and Jaleisha Jackson attended a training program in Washington, D.C. for PPEs where they were asked to take the message of infant mortality back to their community. They returned to campus and began teaching peer education training sessions to 15 nursing students at both the undergraduate and master’s level. Infant mortality was the topic of the annual Red and White Minorities in Nursing Organization Ball, a formal fundraising event that raised more than $2,000 for the March of Dimes. And in March, Ms. Jackson helped organize a health fair in West Philadelphia’s Christ Community Church, which had more than 20 vendors (ranging from representatives from the American Heart Association and March of Dimes to pharmacists and psychiatrists who discussed medical education and psychological disorders). More than 300 people attended, and Ms. Jackson, who worked closely with the Office of Minority Health (OMH), received more than $3,000 worth of donations in the forms of cribs, strollers, bottles, high chairs, and car seats.  

In May, immediately after graduation, Ms. Chu, Ms. Jackson and Dr. Mary Lou de Leon Siantz, Assistant Dean of Diversity and Cultural Affairs, participated in the “Healthy Baby” Campaign’s first College to Community Health Outreach Week. They travelled to Memphis, where the infant mortality rate of 13.0 per every 1,000 live births is nearly twice the national rate of 6.9 per 1,000 live births. Their work, along with others in the PPE program, was included in a documentary on infant mortality, produced by Tonya Lee Lewis, a spokesperson for the campaign, and her husband, director Spike Lee. In Memphis, they visited NICU units, attended a professional conference on “Innovations in Practice and Policy to End Infant Mortality Disparities,” and worked at a community health fair. They also spent a day “canvassing the community,” going door-to-door in neighborhoods and providing health education and emphasizing the role of preconception health.

“I sat with different generations of women, from grandmothers to teenagers,” Ms. Jackson recalls. While visiting one young, new mother, she was surprised by her apartment. There was no crib, no changing table, and no diapers. When she asked the twenty-two year old mother where her baby slept and learned the two shared the same bed, Ms. Jackson discussed the dangers of SIDS.    

 
“This is a great opportunity for leadership training,” says Assistant Dean of Diversity and Cultural Affairs Mary Lou de Leon Siantz, PhD, RN, FAAN, who served on the Secretary's Advisory Council on Infant Mortality. “In addition to national networking opportunities on a federal project, our students are giving back and addressing a bigger health problem.”  

. . . And Reducing Infant Mortality in Japan

Leigh Bastable attended Penn as a Navy ROTC student and was commissioned into the Navy as a nurse upon graduation. She has been stationed in California, Kuwait, Texas, and most recently, Japan, where she currently works as the Internal Medical Clinical nurse.

“I joined Penn Navy ROTC a month before 9/11, and the post-9/11 world for military nursing is now very different. This current war has made a huge impact on my generation. Our men and women will need care for a lifetime to come. I feel obligated to serve this population and play a part somehow. In my opinion, the American military members, their families and our Veterans deserve the best care we can provide. The war has forced us to adapt and develop new methods of healthcare. We are learning as we go. I believe the affects of this war will last a lifetime and we do not know the progression of some of the impact, especially the mental health issues. We need to continue to learn how to best manage post-traumatic stress disorder, as it is not a cookie-cutter disease process. It manifests differently in each person.

My Penn Nursing experience was unique in that it opened my mind, as a very young undergraduate to ‘the bigger picture.’ As Penn Nurses, we attend a world-renowned institution and learn from professors who are conducting research to change the world. It was impossible to avoid becoming immersed in this unique aspect of Penn, and I was able to begin my learning of the research process during my undergraduate education with Professor Barbara Riegel, DNSc, RN, FAAN, FAHA. Through her willingness, guidance, and direction, I had successfully conducted a research project looking at the Health Literacy Level of a group of patients at the Hospital University of Pennsylvania’s Heart Failure Clinic by the end of my senior year. I had also published an abstract in the Heart Failure Society of America’s journal and presented my poster at an annual Heart Failure Conference.

Penn Nursing prepared me to become not only a nurse but also a leader, which is precisely what is required of me as a U.S. Navy Nurse Corps Officer. The hands-on learning experiences allowed me to be ready for the significant responsibilities that were given to me as a very young and brand new nurse in my career. The sound nursing education taught me to push myself to become the nurse that others turn to for knowledge and expertise. Penn Nursing exposed me to a “holistic nursing philosophy,” which is vital to Navy nursing. As a Navy nurse, I am responsible for initiating and coordinating a multidisciplinary team of care for my patients. I daily identify and organize resources for patients and their families to help with inpatient, outpatient, and home care needs. We coordinate cross-continent medical services and transports and pool resources with all members in the healthcare team. The demands of military nursing require keen communication skills and require “out of the box,” timely thinking.

The Navy medicine experience is one that requires teamwork on all levels and it requires the willingness to be flexible and ready to learn. Military nursing is unique. There are many, many opportunities to obtain excellent training and you are expected to function in many different roles. From the beginning of my Penn education to my current career path, I have learned to advance in a highly competitive setting to become a global nursing leader who must adjust to an ever-changing environment, with unique and challenging conditions.”