New program aims at lowering mortality rate

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Emily Reyes has never had a baby on time. Her first child was born four weeks early. Her second, seven weeks. And on Dec. 30, Reyes, 24, gave birth to a baby boy five weeks before her due date.

During her pregnancy, doctors told Reyes that she could have problems. But thanks to a state-funded pilot program designed to help women through problem pregnancies, Reyes said, her son survived.

"I thought it was great," the Belleville resident of the program, which the St. Clair County Health Department calls Caring for You, Caring for Your Baby. "They offered me a lot of information in preventing premature birth."

Reyes enrolled in the program through the county's Women, Infant and Children Clinic, at the urging of her case manager. That way, Reyes said, she would receive personal attention at least twice a month.

A report released by the Illinois Department of Public Health showed that the state's infant mortality rate was 8.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1999 and 2000. The numbers are "no surprise to me," said Robin Hannon, director of personal health services at St. Clair County's the Women, Infant and Children Clinic. "We have been identified as one of the counties to help reduce the rate."