Emerging Issues

The field of maternal, infant, and child health is constantly changing. HHS is analyzing reasons for the recent increase in infant death rates, possible causes of preterm birth, issues in the coding and reporting of sudden and unexplained infant deaths, and strategies for preventing maternal illness and death. Given the adverse trends seen in preterm birth rates and related death rates, a comprehensive public health research agenda that investigates the social, genetic, and biomedical factors contributing to preterm birth and existing racial and ethnic disparities would inform policies and activities. A National Summit on Preconception Care was convened by CDC and its partners to begin developing national recommendations to coordinate services.^{40, 41} These recommendations are expected to lead to improved pregnancy outcomes and reduce costs associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. In addition, a central World Wide Web gateway for pregnancy health information is under development for women, their partners, and their health care providers.

SIDS remains the third leading cause of infant death, despite significant declines in rates since 1990.¹ A national effort to standardize and improve the quality of data collected at infant death scene investigations and reported on death certificates has been launched to provide reliable information.^{42, 43} More accurate cause-of-death data will improve the ability to monitor trends in infant deaths, evaluate prevention programs, and conduct research that will ultimately lead to a reduction in these deaths.

National surveillance systems for birth defects are vital for detecting and monitoring trends, producing the high quality data needed for epidemiologic studies to identify risk factors, and evaluating the effectiveness of various intervention efforts. In addition, surveillance systems can identify maternal deaths preventable with improved provider detection and treatment, access to care, and patient compliance.

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