The State of Maternal and Child Health in Kansas City: A Report
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Background: Maternal and child health (MCH) is an important aspect of a community’s health. Understanding how to improve MCH depends on knowing the needs of the community and the interventions that improve it. Cradle KC supported the creation of a MCH report for the eight counties surrounding Kansas City that they serve. Methods: Data were gathered from public sources to formulate a report on MCH for the Kansas City region. Data for the MCH report were collected from: the Census Bureau, March of Dimes, the Annie E. Casey Kids Count Data Center, Missouri Public Health Information Systems, Missouri Department of Social Services, Kansas Information for Communities, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee, and Kansas Health Matters. After being compared, analyzed, and formatted, the data were added into the report draft guided by an Asset Model approach. Results: Between 2017 and 2019, Black women were three times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes in Missouri, and in Kansas, between 2016 and 2018, non-White minorities were nearly two times more likely to die a year after pregnancy than non-Hispanic White women. The average infant mortality rate for the region is 6.8 for every 1,000 live births. The average infant mortality rate for Black infants was over 4 times higher than White infants. The average percentage of births that were low-birth weight in the region was 7.5%. Teen birth counts in the region decreased between 2005 and 2020. Prenatal care initiation in the first trimester was at an average of 77.5%. Smoking during pregnancy between 2005 and 2020 had an average decrease of 7.7%. On average the percentage of births that were less than 18 months apart was 9.7%. The average rate of uninsured children in the region was 5.4%, and the average rate of breastfeeding initiation in the region is 88.7%. The average high school graduation rate was 89.8%. Conclusion: Reducing racial disparities and continual work to prevent maternal and infant deaths are major priorities for the Kansas City region. Areas of improvement for the region include improving breastfeeding retention, and immunization rates. Additionally, access to health insurance and access to quality prenatal care must be intentionally improved in Jackson and Wyandotte counties to help reduce disparities. Data collection must be standardized to collect information on the same key indicators and social determinants of health across the region. Streamlining data dissemination should be a priority for all health organizations in the region that focus on maternal and child health in order to be more effective, informed, and timely with interventions.