Infant and Maternal Health and Mortality
Child & infant Mortality
Hamilton County Public Health is part of a county-wide initiative to improve maternal and infant health and to reduce infant mortality— a significant, troubling problem in Hamilton County. In order to take effective actions to improve the health and safety of infants and children in our community, it is essential to identify, describe and monitor these problems and the populations at risk. Our epidemiologists work to monitor and report the frequency of infant deaths and the associated risk factors such as pre-term birth; visit our reports page to review the most recent monthly reports.
The epidemiology division also provides analytical services to support the shared objectives of other agencies.
HCPH also partners with Cradle Cincinnati in an effort to reduce infant mortality in Hamilton County. We strive to prevent prematurity by increasing the amount of time between each woman’s pregnancies to 18 months or longer. We encourage the reduction or eradication of tobacco use and other substance abuse in pregnancy. And finally, we promote safe sleep for babies. Babies should always sleep Alone, on their Back and in a Crib every time they sleep.
Safe Sleep is Worth it! Sleep-related-infant-death-analysis-summary
Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR)
FIMR is a community-oriented process that reviews the circumstances surrounding a fetal or infant death to improve the health and safety of the community. The purpose of the FIMR process is to identify and take action to prevent a wide range of local social, economic, public health, education, environmental, and safety factors that contribute to the tragedy of fetal and infant loss. Systematic review of individual cases leads teams to make recommendations and to develop and implement innovative local actions that improve systems of care, services, and resources for women, infants, and families.
Have you experienced fetal or infant loss (less than 1 year of age) in the last 2 years? If you have and live in Hamilton County, get connected to one of our FIMR family interviewers.
Meet our FIMR team!
Christopher Johnson – FIMR Coordinator
Sarah Huber – Epidemiologist
Lauren Bostick – FIMR family interviewer
Gayle Foster – FIMR family interviewer
Michele Campbell – Medical Record Abstractor
Community Action Team (CAT): Community leaders representing government, consumers, key institutions, and health & human service organizations serve on the community action team (CAT) which acts to implement recommendations.
Mission Statement: To optimize equitable health outcomes for women, infants, children and families in Cincinnati-Hamilton County through collaboration, education and action
Vision: Healthy Community, Healthy Parent, Healthy Child, Healthy Life
Goals/Key Focus Areas
- Address Fetal & Infant Mortality Review (FIMR), Child Fatality Review (CFR) and other maternal-child health community partners’ recommendations
- Resource sharing, information gathering, and partnership development/collaboration to promote maternal-child health and safety and awareness in the community and avoid duplication of services
- Provide community/program updates, new data, statistics, and trends in the community regarding maternal and child health
The SUID (Sudden Unexpected Infant Death) and
SDY (Sudden Death in the Young) Case Registry
The SUID and SDY Case Registry gathers information to learn more about infants, children, and young adults (under 18 years of age) who die suddenly and unexpectedly, to better understand the causes of these deaths and find ways to prevent them. The Case Registry serves as an important resource for the families who are coping with this sudden loss by providing local bereavement resources and a safe space to speak with a family interviewer. It is also an opportunity for families to consent to allowing their loved one’s DNA to be used in research at the SUID and SDY Case Registry Biorepository.
The project is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The registry operates across participating states and regions, fostering collaboration among professionals, families, and communities. Together, we strive to honor the memories of these young lives by working toward a safer and healthier future. For more information, please visit https://sdyregistry.org/information-for-families/
Meet our SUID/SDY Case Registry Team! 
Family Interviewer – Samantha Legendre
SUID/SDY Case Registry Coordinator – Rachel Webken
Child Fatality Review (CFR)
CFR is the multidisciplinary review of individual child deaths to help communities understand why children die and equip them to effectively prevent future fatalities. Child Fatality Review (CFR) is a prevention-oriented process that reviews the circumstances surrounding the death of a child to improve the health and safety of the community. Check out our latest report.
Ohio Equity Institute (OEI)
The Ohio Equity Initiative (OEI): is a statewide program, funded by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and implemented locally by Hamilton County Public Health (HCPH). Created in 2012, OEI used population data to prioritize areas for outreach in nine urban Ohio counties with the highest infant mortality rates and largest racial/ethnic health disparities. OEI 2.0 launched October 1, 2018, which now services ten counties. The revised implemented structure ensures that the program addresses the biggest drivers of infant mortality, especially in the Black community where infants are 2.8 times more likely to die than white infants. OEI directly serves populations most vulnerable to poor birth outcomes such as prematurity and low birthweight.
OEI utilizes both downstream and upstream strategies.
Downstream Strategy: Neighborhood Navigators work within 23 priority ZIP codes to identify and connect a portion of the county’s Black prenatal population to needed clinical and social services. The aim of the downstream approach is to use non-traditional methods of community outreach to reach people not previously connected.
Upstream Strategy: With the use of data collected by the Neighborhood Navigators and community partners, information is used to facilitate the development, adoption, or improvement of policies and/or practices as it relates to the social determinants of health related to preterm birth and low birth weight, which are often the drivers of inequities in birth outcomes.
To make positive and lasting changes to infant mortality outcomes, it is important that HCPH staff work together with other community partners. Building relationships with partnering organizations, has proven to be an essential piece for identifying, serving, and connecting eligible women resources and working together to create policy level changes in Hamilton County.
Resources
Experiencing loss does not have to be something you go through alone. Please consider the resources on this page. You are seen, you are heard, you are valued.
Companions on a Journey Grief Support (COJ): Footprints on Our Hearts Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support
Group
- This group provides grief support for parents who have suffered the death of a child through miscarriage or early infant death. Footprints on Our Hearts allows parents to process their grief in a safe place with other parents who have experienced the loss of a baby. Together, we honor our children and find hope, strength, and healing. Option to attend in person or virtually.
- When: the fourth Monday of the month, 6:30-8 pm, September-May
- Where: 8857 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Suite #002, West Chester, OH 45069
- Contact: Please call (513) 870-9108 or visit companionsonajourney.org
Hearts: Support Group
- Peer-led support group for parents who have lost a child through molar or ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth, neonatal death, SIDS and birth defects.
- When: The second Monday of each month from 6:30-8 pm
- Where: Florence United Methodist Church, Room L12 (Green Room – lower level of church), 8585 Old Toll Road, Florence, KY 41042
- Contact: Church Phone: 859-371-7961
Healing Together Support Group
- For families who have experienced pregnancy loss or the death of an infant or young child.
- When: The third Tuesday of each month
- Contact: For questions regarding the group or other HEAL (Help Endure a Loss) services, call the HEAL coordinators at 513-974-4056
Hope Group
- This group in Northern Kentucky is for parents who experienced child loss of any age.
- When: The third Tuesday of each month 6 pm
- Where: The Community Grief Center, St. Elizabeth Hospice, 483 South Loop Rd., Edgewood, KY, 41017
- Contact: (859) 301-4611 or email: stars@stelizabeth.com for additional information and to confirm meeting
Reach out to Grieving Parents
- Peer support led by parents who have lost a child due to miscarriage, stillbirth or newborn death. (Currently, this group is not able to meet in person. Please contact one of the facilitators below regarding support and updated status.)
- Where: Christ Hospital, 2139 Auburn Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, 45219
- Contact: Carole Bonno, (513) 922-8883, Grace DeGregorio (513) 791-1160 or Mary Kuenzig (513) 300-1537
Mending Hearts
- Support available for parents who experienced stillbirth, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or neonatal death of a child.
- When: 2nd Wed, 7-9pm
- Where: University Hospital
- Contact: Sally Westendorf (513) 584-7037
Vilomah’s Journey Support Group
- Vilomah’s Journey is a network of parents who have experienced the loss of their child. We are a support group for those adjusting to a “new normal” as well as a group committed to projects that bring awareness of our journey and to support families entering this journey.
- Where: Ft. Wright office
- When: 7-9 pm on the second Wednesday of each month
- Where: Blue Ash location of the Cancer Support Community
- When: 7-9pm the fourth Wednesday of each month
- Contact: 513-791-4060 for additional information
TriHealth
- Parents who have experienced pregnancy loss or neonatal death such as miscarriage, stillborn, ectopic pregnancy and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome can attend a monthly meeting offered by TriHealth. Parents share experiences and explore the natural feelings of anger, sadness and depression that accompany the grieving process.
- Bethesda North Hospital: 513 865-1468
- Good Samaritan Hospital: 513 862-1163
PLUS: Prayerful, Loving and Understanding Support
- Provides support meetings for parents who have lost a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, or newborn/infant death.
- When: The fourth Wednesday of each month from 7:30-9 pm
- Where: St. Margaret of York Church, 9483 Columbia Rd., Loveland, OH 45140
- Contact: Mary Kuenzig at 513-300-1537 or mkuenzig@hotmail.com
Perinatal/Neonatal Loss Group
- Designed to help those parents who have suffered the death of a child either through miscarriage to birth or the first year of life.
- When: 3rd Tues. of the month. 7-9pm
- Where: Liberty Township
- Contact: (513) 870-9108
The Compassionate Friends, Cincinnati Chapter
East Group (In-Person): New attendees please call before attending in order to gather additional information.
- When: In-person meetings are the fourth Tuesday of the month
- Location: St. Timothy Episcopal Church, 8101 Beechmont Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45255
- Time: 7 pm
- Contact: Lindsay Bibler (513) 652-7470, tcfcincy@gmail.com
East Group (Virtual)
- When: The third Wednesday of the month (please call Lindsay for additional information)
- Contact: Lindsay Bibler (513) 652-7470, tcfcincy@gmail.com
East Group (Casual Meeting):
- When: Second Saturday
- Location: Panera on Beechmont Ave.
- Contact: Lindsay Bibler (513) 652-7470, tcfcincy@gmail.com
North Group (masks are required):
- When: The first Tuesday of each month
- Location: Spring Grove Funeral Home across from Oak Hill Cemetery, Tri-County, 11285 Princeton Pike (Route 747), Cincinnati, OH 45246
- Time: 7pm
- Contact: tcfofcincinnatinorth@gmail.com or tcfcincinnatinorth.org
African American Faith-Based Bereavement Initiative (AAFBBI)
• https://nccc.georgetown.edu/aafbbi/
Back in His Arms Again
• www.backinhisarmsagain.com
Centering Corporation
• www.centering.org
Children of Jannah
• www.childrenofjannah.com
Compassionate Friends
• www.compassionatefriends.org
Connecting Our Paths Eternally (COPE)
• www.copefoundation.org
Cornerstone of Hope
• www.cornerstoneofhope.org
First Candle
• www.firstcandle.org
• 24 hour Grief Line: 1-800-221-7437
Glow in the Woods
• www.glowinthewoods.com
Helping After Neonatal Death (HAND)
• www.handonline.org
Lach’s Legacy
• www.lachslegacy.org
March of Dimes
• www.marchofdimes.org
MISS Foundation
• www.missfoundation.org
My Miscarriage Matters
• www.mymiscarriagematters.org
Postpartum Support International
• www.postpartum.net
Pregnancy Loss and Infant Death Alliance (PLIDA)
• www.plida.org
Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc.
• www.nationalshare.org
Star Legacy Foundation
• www.starlegacyfoundation.org
Terminations Remembered
• www.terminationsremembered.com
