Factors include pervasive poverty, young and uninformed mothers, poor prenatal care and even race.
Like most new moms, 19-year-old Alaina Gonville loves her newborn son, Brandon, with all her heart.
But like so many babies born in Detroit, little Brandon has faced more than his share of challenges from the minute he entered the world five weeks early, on Oct. 28, at Harper University Hospital.
More babies, like Brandon, are born prematurely in Detroit than in any major city in the United States, a Detroit News investigation found.
Prematurity, whose deadly side effects include brain hemorrhages, collapsed lungs and failing organs, is the leading killer of Detroit’s babies. It’s the major component of infant mortality — a catch-all term comprising all conditions that claim children before their first birthday.
Infant mortality is the No. 1 killer of Detroit children; violence is second. In 2011 alone, 130 of the 208 Detroit children who died that year had not yet marked their first birthday.
“It’s infuriating, because we know we can change the trajectory of these numbers,” said Kristen McDonald, vice president of program and policy for the Detroit-based Skillman Foundation.
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