The North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force released new numbers and a detailed report on the child death rate in the state from 2016.

The report says 59.2 children between the ages of zero and 17 died per 100,000.

Even though this number has stayed relatively stable since 2010, executive director of the task force Kella Hatcher believes that is not good enough.

“The other way of looking at it is that it’s stagnant, and that stagnant is not acceptable,” says Hatcher. “We were on a downward trajectory for quite some time, even if it was a little bit at a time. What we want to see is that rate getting back on a downward trajectory.”

WCHL’s Aaron Keck spoke with Kella Hatcher.

 

According to the report, 64 percent of child deaths in 2016 were infants under the age of one from causes such as prematurity, low birth weight and birth defects.

“Some of the things that we address in order to get at some of those top causes include improving access to quality prenatal care, addressing smoking during pregnancy and also lately we’ve been working on the issue of matching the needs of complex cases with healthcare facilities to be able to address those complexities,” said Hatcher.

Hatcher says that motor vehicle-related deaths are another large contributor to child fatality rates and something that the task force believes they can reduce.

“This year we are actually working to close a gap in North Carolina’s seatbelt laws,” said Hatcher. “There are definitely policy solutions that we can work on that will reduce motor vehicle-related deaths.”

More information on the report can be found at the State Center for Health Statistic’s Website.

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