As infant mortality rates rise, North Texas leaders work toward solutions
The first year of life is one of the most vulnerable. Around the state and the country, infant mortality rates are rising
In Texas, research has found that the highest infant death rate in the state is in Fort Worth zip code 76104. The city of Fort Worth, though, has rallied Tarrant County health leaders and non-profits in the search for solutions.
This is part one of three in our series about the work being done to address rising infant mortality rates. See more from this series here.
Infant mortality rates on the rise
Collins is the little girl her parents wanted so much. It took Kyle and Bailey Kennedy over a year to get pregnant. They say they were "over the moon excited" when they learned they'd be giving their son a sister. But at an ultrasound at 20 weeks pregnant, they received some scary news.
"The doctor said there are severe complications to her brain," Bailey Kennedy said. "She had a lot of fluid instead of her brain developing properly."
No one was quite sure how long Collins would live. The Kennedys prepared for the possibility that they'd lose her shortly after birth and grappled with tough decisions about how much medical intervention they'd allow once she was born. After speaking with their doctors and praying, they decided if Collins was unable to breathe on her own, they wouldn't opt for full intubation.
"If she wasn't breathing on her own, then they would just let me hold her," Bailey Kennedy said. "And we were going to let her die comfortably — as comfortably as possible."
After she was born, Collins was hooked up to a CPAP machine and a feeding tube. Doctors told the Kennedys she would never be able to eat or breathe on her own, and would most likely pass within a week. But Collins pulled through.
She survived her birth, a two-week stay in the hospital, and multiple brain surgeries. The day she came home, she ate on her own for the first time. At nine months old, she no longer needed a breathing tube to provide her with a steady supply of oxygen. The Kennedys said there were some scary moments, but against all expectations, she celebrated her first birthday last August. She's now working on her first steps and her first words.
"We're just grateful for where she's at now and we're hopeful for each step," Kyle Kennedy said.
Collins's success is due in part to the extensive medical care she's received. But when it comes to the survival of its smallest residents, Tarrant County has struggled.
In 76104, the same zip code that houses Fort Worth's hospital district, a University of Texas study found the highest infant mortality rate in the state. Out of every 1,000 babies born to women living in 76104, 19 were dying within the first year — nearly four times the national average.
More recent data shows this is a growing problem. In 2022, for the first time in a decade, both Texas and the U.S. as a whole saw an increase in infant deaths.
Explore the map below to find the infant mortality rate in your zip code.
Finding solutions
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, a mother herself, says the numbers trouble her.
"For a long time there haven't been enough women policymakers at the table," Parker said. "I felt a sense of urgency around an issue that I think our community has really struggled with for decades."
Two years ago, Parker formed the Tarrant County Maternal & Infant Health Coalition, which consists of local health leaders and nonprofits with the goal of improving health care and outcomes for mothers and infants.
Medical experts say there are a number of reasons infant mortality rates are so high in some zip codes, such as 76104, including limited access to affordable healthy food and medical care.
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 29.3% of residents in the 76104 ZIP code are uninsured, compared with 20.5% statewide and 10.2% nationwide.
"When you're uninsured, you'll have to find a place that will actually see you, and the place they have to see you is the emergency room," said Dr. Stuart Flynn, founding dean at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University. The medical school works with the coalition formed by Parker.
Flynn said when moms show up in the emergency room in labor, many times it's the first time they've interacted with a health care provider during their pregnancy. At the point of labor, those mothers have already missed out on possible interventions to address conditions like diabetes, anemia and vitamin deficiencies, that can reduce the risk of complications.
In the last couple of years, the coalition has worked to enroll patients in Medicaid and has advocated for what it considers critical policy changes at the state level. And in the last few months, it has teamed up with Dallas County health leaders in pursuit of what's known as an ARPA-H grant.
ARPA-H, or Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, is a government agency that funds medical research, particularly projects that have the potential to "transform important areas of medicine and health."
"This is Dallas and Tarrant County working together," Flynn said. "That in its own right, in my career, is unheard of."
The chance to bring in $45 million for local research has brought the two counties together. One initiative the grant would go toward will aim to provide every pregnant woman in the DFW area with free iron pills. Iron deficiency is a common condition during pregnancy, and can lead to complications for both mothers and babies. The effort is based on research performed at Parkland Hospital that drastically cut the number of women needing blood transfusions during birth — a procedure that comes with risks.
The iron pill is just one initiative the grant would benefit.
Local hospitals are also working to keep moms better informed with apps like Parent Pass, better train providers to respond to bleeding and other complications during birth and create specialized units to address underlying issues affecting new moms' health — like hypertension, food access and postpartum depression.
"We want the lowest mortality rate in the country," Parker said. "We want to be an example for hospital systems and communities and health care providers across the country, what it looks like to care holistically for women and children in their communities."
It's unclear how the Trump administration's attempts to freeze federal funding will impact the ARPA-H grant. In a response to a request for comment from CBS News Texas, ARPA-H said it is "prohibited from discussing any funding opportunity during the bidding process."
