03-2
ARIZONA PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION
PERINATAL MORTALITY REVIEW
WHEREAS, fetal, infant, child and maternal deaths have always been viewed as sentinel events that serve as a measure of a community’s overall social and economic well-being, as well as its health. Mortality rates are also a measure of the organization and capacity of its local health and human services and the robustness of community resources, and
WHEREAS, an organized national effort is required if perinatal outcomes are to improve significantly in the next several decades, and
WHEREAS, racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality and low birth weight persist, both nationally and locally, and
WHEREAS, local and state health departments provide leadership for improving the health status of women and children and have a key role in efforts to reduce infant mortality and low birth rates, and
WHEREAS, community-owned, action-oriented mortality review programs result in improved service systems and resources for women, infants and families and have been used successfully in 89 health departments throughout the United States.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Arizona Public Health Association supports legislation to create a perinatal mortality review system that conducts comprehensive review of fetal, infant, and pregnancy-related maternal deaths, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Arizona Public Health Association recommends an increase in cost of birth certificates necessary to fund an effective infrastructure for the operation of a Perinatal Mortality Review project.
Presented at the Annual Meeting, September 25, 2003 Action
140~2003_(1)Perinatal mortality review (maternal and child health, health records)