Losing a child in the first year is an immeasurable tragedy for a family. Infant mortality is also an urgent public health issue.
The challenge has been especially dire in the State of Ohio, which has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the United States. In 2017, seven out of 1,000 babies died before the age of one year.
But this aggregate statistic belies deeper inequities along racial lines. Compared to white babies, black babies in Ohio were more than three times as likely to die before their first birthday.
Recognizing the need for bold action, State of Ohio leaders began exploring how they could harness Big Data to better understand the complexity of this growing issue and transform interventions for at-risk mothers and babies.