UNE鈥檚 Dora Mills calls attention to Maine鈥檚 high infant mortality rate

Dora Anne Mills

When Dora Anne Mills, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, 51品茶 vice president for Clinical Affairs and director for the Center for Excellence in Health Innovation, looks at the increasing numbers of infant mortality rates in Maine, she sees an indicator that the overall health of people in Maine, particularly in rural areas, is declining.

She expressed this sentiment in a recent 鈥淢aine Voices鈥 piece in the Portland Press Herald. 鈥淭his is critical, because infant mortality 鈥 the rate at which babies die in the first year of life 鈥 is the most accurate pulse we have on the health of a society,鈥 Mills wrote. 鈥淚t reflects not only the health of people at their most vulnerable time of life 鈥 that is, infancy 鈥 but also of women during and after pregnancy, and of the entire family and community, since any environmental toxin, public secondhand tobacco smoke, or other community-wide health issue often exerts their heaviest impact on infants.鈥

Mills says Maine鈥檚 infant mortality rates have increased from some of the best in the country in the 1990s to the 43rd worst in the nation, with numbers on par with some third world countries. WCSH verified these numbers in a report about infant mortality.

    

           

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