May 2006 (Updated July 2007)

General Resources

Introduction

This knowledge path about infant mortality has been compiled by the Maternal and Child Health Library at Georgetown University. It offers a selection of recent, high-quality resources that analyze data, describe public health campaigns and other prevention programs, and report on research aimed at identifying causes and promising intervention strategies. This knowledge path for health professionals, policymakers, researchers, and families will be updated periodically.

Related topics: Please see our knowledge paths about preconception and pregnancy, locating community-based services to support children and families, children and adolescents with special health care needs, and racial and ethnic disparities in health.

Overview

• See the Department of Health and Human Services' fact sheet, Preventing infant mortality, rev. ed. (2006), which describes the problem of infant mortality in the United States and federal efforts to reduce mortality risks.
  

  
  

Hotline

• First Candle/SIDS Alliance. Provides a nationwide, 24-hour, toll-free hotline in English and Spanish for expectant and new parents on ways to help their infants survive and thrive, for parents who have experienced the death of an infant, and for professionals working with families. The hotline telephone number is (800) 221-7437.
  

  
  

Web Sites: A-Z

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Contains policy statements, journal articles, fact sheets, and other materials about infant mortality and risk-reduction programs. Recent resources and initiatives include

  Changing concept of sudden infant death syndrome: Diagnostic coding shifts, controversies regarding the sleeping environment, and new variables to consider in reducing risk. (2005). [Position statement].

  Healthy Child Care America Back to Sleep Campaign. Contains brochures for parents and child care providers and training and education materials for health professionals about reducing the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in child care settings. AAP is a partner in this campaign, which is part of the broader Back to Sleep Campaign sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Recent materials include

  • Child care provider's guide to safe sleep. (2005).
    
    
  • Parent's guide to safe sleep. (2005).
    
    
  • Tummy time. (2005).
    
    
• Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP): State Infant Mortality Initiative (SIMI). Offers information and resources about this program to help state public health agencies investigate their increasing, stagnant, or high infant mortality rates. Recent publications include

  Building state partnerships to improve birth outcomes: AMCHP perinatal disparities action learning lab report. (2005).

• Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs (ASIP). Offers information about this association of health and human service providers committed to infant mortality bereavement support and risk-reduction activities. Resources include a list of state SIDS contacts and SIDS materials for families and health professionals. Publications include

  Bereavement counseling for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and infant mortality: Core competencies for the health care professional. (2004).

  Case study of faith-based outreach in New York City: Lessons learned from a risk reduction initiative. Final report. (2004).

  Also see the National SIDS & Infant Death Project IMPACT, a partnership between ASIP and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Offers resources and initiatives aimed at reducing infant mortality that include

  CDC's Division of Reproductive Health: Maternal and Infant Health. Contains links to reports, data, and other resources about promoting infant health and preventing infant illness and mortality, including SIDS and other sudden, unexplained infant death (SUID). Recent publications and initiatives include

  • Racial/ethnic disparities in infant mortality -- United States, 1995-2002. (2005).
    
    
  • Sudden, Unexplained Infant Death Initiative (SUIDI). Presents information about this initiative to improve the investigation and reporting of SUID, in collaboration with other federal agencies and organizations representing medical examiners, coroners, death-scene investigators, emergency medical personnel, law-enforcement officials, forensic nurses, SIDS researchers, infant-death-review experts, and parents who have experienced a death of an infant. Includes the SUIDI reporting form (2006) for state and local use in infant-death-scene investigations.

  CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Includes national data about infant mortality and contributing factors. Recent publications include

  • Deaths: Preliminary data for 2004. (2006). This report includes infant mortality rates and lists leading causes of infant death.
    
    
  • FASTATS: Infant health. (2006). This fact sheet contains national infant mortality data summaries with links to full reports and data sets.
    
    
  • Infant mortality statistics from the 2004 period linked birth/infant death data set. (2007). This report presents data from the linked birth/infant death data set on infant mortality rates by race and ethnicity, leading causes of death, infant characteristics such as birthweight, and maternal factors such as receipt of prenatal care.
    
    
  • Trends in preterm-related infant mortality by race and ethnicity: United States, 1999-2004. (2007).
    
    
  • Also see the two NCHS databases, Data 2010 and Health Data for All Ages.

  CDC's Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010). Describes this initiative that supports community coalitions in designing, implementing, and evaluating community-driven strategies to eliminate health disparities in six priority areas, one of which is infant mortality.

  Also see CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD).

• CityMatCH. Contains tools and resources for implementing the Perinatal Periods of Risk (PPOR) approach for mobilizing communities to reduce feto-infant mortality in U.S. cities. PPOR is a joint initiative of CityMatCH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), March of Dimes (MOD), and Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).
  
  
• CJ Foundation for SIDS. Includes program information and educational materials to reduce the incidence of SIDS. Recent materials include

  Face up to wake up. (2005). This 12" x 18" poster depicts four ways to reinforce safe sleep practices and reduce the incidence of SIDS in child care. The poster is available in English and Spanish and can be downloaded or ordered free of charge.

• First Candle/SIDS Alliance. Contains information about its efforts to eliminate SIDS, stillbirth, and other causes of infant mortality through research and education while supporting bereaved families. Resources include a series of fact sheets for expectant and new parents about reducing the risk of infant death; education and training materials for health and human service professionals; and a training manual and fact sheets for child care providers. Resources for bereaved families include a hotline, grief packets, referrals to local support groups, conferences, and online resources to help families connect and share experiences. Spanish-language materials for families and professionals are also available. This national nonprofit organization seeks to unite families, caregivers, health professionals, and researchers with government, business, and community-service groups to eliminate infant mortality and support bereaved families. Recent publications and initiatives include

  Bedtime Basics: An Infant Sleep Campaign. Presents information and materials for this educational outreach campaign to help prevent infant deaths caused by unsafe sleep practices.

  Model Program: The Most Important Modeling Job of Your Life. Presents information and materials for this national professional education campaign that urges nurses in neonatal intensive care units and well-baby nurseries to incorporate safe sleep policies into their existing protocols.

  SIDS and infant death program manual and trainer's guide. (2006).

• Healthy People 2010. Offers information about this national health promotion and disease prevention initiative created by a broad coalition of experts from many sectors to improve the health of all Americans, eliminate disparities in health, and improve years and quality of healthy life. The initiative addresses 467 objectives in 28 focus areas that include 22 measurable health objectives specific to risk factors for infant mortality and more than 100 related objectives on issues such as cigarette smoking. Healthy People 2010 contains background information on the initiative; the complete text (online and searchable), Healthy People 2010: Understanding and improving health, 2nd ed. (2000); data; a list of the Healthy People partners and related sites; and other Healthy People publications. It is coordinated by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). Also see the HP2010 Information Access Project for access to published literature related to the Healthy People 2010 objectives about reducing fetal and infant deaths.
  
  
• March of Dimes (MOD). Contains resources for health professionals and consumers in English and Spanish about preconceptional and prenatal care, birth defects, bereavement, and how to get involved in improving the health of infants by reducing the incidence of birth defects and infant mortality. Also offers perinatal statistics (including infant mortality rates), perinatal nursing education modules, and medical reference information.
  
  
• MedlinePlus: Sudden infant death syndrome. Offers a select list of authoritative health information sources about SIDS for health professionals and families. The list is available in English and Spanish. Includes a link to an automatic search in MEDLINE for recent articles on SIDS. Also view the MedlinePlus list of health topics for links to related resources about pregnancy, pregnancy loss, infant and early childhood health, and birth defects. MedlinePlus is developed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
  
  
• National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC). Includes information about its Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)/Other Infant Death (ID) Project, a set of promising practices for cultural and linguistic competence in addressing SIDS/ID, a literature review, a self-assessment checklist, and links to related resources about cultural competence and infant mortality. Information is available in English and Spanish. NCCC is a part of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development. Publications include

  Building integrated systems to address sudden unexpected infant death. (2007).

• National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program (NFIMR). Contains a wealth of resources for implementing the fetal and infant mortality review (FIMR) method, including a directory of state and community FIMR projects, bibliographies, descriptions of model programs, reports, a newsletter, and an online discussion group. NFIMR is a partnership between the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Publications include

  Cross cultural expressions of grief and loss: When an infant dies, Vol 2. (2004).

  Maternal risk factors related to fetal and infant mortality, rev. ed. (2005). [Bibliography].

  Thinking creatively: What FIMR team members need to know to foster community buy-in. (2005).

• National Healthy Start Association (NHSA). Describes the Healthy Start program and provides general information about infant mortality, low birthweight infants, and racial disparities in perinatal outcomes. Includes a directory of Healthy Start programs nationwide and a newsletter. Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Healthy Start provides community-based, culturally competent, family-centered, comprehensive perinatal health services to women, infants, and their families in communities with very high rates of infant mortality. (Also see the Maternal and Child Health Library's Healthy Start Collection Database for a catalog of materials developed by Healthy Start programs.)
  
  
• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Contains research and grant information, publications, and other resources for health professionals, researchers, and consumers about pregnancy and infant and child health topics, including infant mortality and related factors. NICHD is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Initiatives include

  Back to Sleep Campaign. Contains information about this national campaign aimed at health professionals, child care providers, and families to promote placing infants to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS. Includes research reports, outreach materials in English and Spanish, and videotapes. The campaign is sponsored by NICHD, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), First Candle/SIDS Alliance, and the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs (ASIP). Recent resources include

  • Safe sleep for your baby: Reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). African American outreach. (2005).
    
    
  • Safe sleep for your baby: Ten ways to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). General outreach. (2005).
    
    
• National MCH Center for Child Death Review. Describes the child death review process for children ages 0-18; offers tools for child death review teams; and presents child mortality data by state, causes of child death, and prevention strategies. The national center is funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Recent resources include

  Child death review: Using data to understand why children die and taking action to prevent child deaths. (2006). [Internet audio conference].

  Guides for effective child death reviews. (2005).

• National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care (NRC). Presents each state's child care licensure regulations that includes those involving safe sleep environments for infants. Also offers Sudden infant death syndrome risk reduction standards, a compilation of the 10 national standards on reducing the risk of SIDS in child care settings based on the manual, Caring for our children: National health and safety performance standards -- Guidelines for out-of-home child care, 2nd ed. (2002).
  
  
• National SIDS & Infant Death Project IMPACT. Offers contact information for state SIDS programs, links to state SIDS laws, and links to state child care licensing about safe sleep environments. Also offers information about innovative resource development projects conducted by state SIDS/ID programs and a listserv to support state and local infant mortality and risk reduction programs. Includes facts about SIDS and practices to help lower the risk of SIDS. Also includes links to research on the causes of sudden unexpected infant death. Project IMPACT, a partnership between the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs (ASIP) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), creates opportunities for collaboration among federal, state, and local organizations in response to SIDS/ID risk reduction and bereavement support issues. Resources include two tool cards for health professionals developed with the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved:

  Bereavement support for the family suffering the death of an infant. (2006).

  Infant death risk reduction. (2006).

• National Sudden Infant Death Resource Center (NSIDRC). Includes many resources for health professionals, policymakers, and families about SIDS and other unexpected infant death, stillbirth, miscarriage, and bereavement. Resources include fact sheets, booklets, bibliographies, Spanish-language materials, and a bibliographic database. NSIDRC is sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Recent publications include
  
  After sudden infant death: Facing anniversaries, holidays, and special events. (2005).
  
  Death of a child the grief of the parents: A lifetime journey, rev. ed. (2005).
  
  Directory of SIDS state program coordinators. (2005).
  
  Helping children cope with grief when an infant dies. (2005).
  
  Safe sleep for your baby around the clock: Birth to 12 months. (2005).
  
  Selected resources for grieving parents, their families, friends, and other caregivers. (2005).
  
  SIDS deaths by race and ethnicity,1995-2001. (2004).
  
  Sudden, unexpected infant death: Information for the emergency medical technician. (2004).
  
  Responding to a sudden, unexpected infant death: The professional's role. (2004).
  
  Table of SIDS death and mortality rates, 1983-2003. (2005).
  
  What is SIDS?, rev. ed. (2005). A Spanish-language version, ¿Qué es el SMIS?, rev. ed. (2005) is also available.
  
  
• Office of Minority Health: Infant Mortality/SIDS. Contains statistics about infant mortality among racial and ethnic groups. Also presents a fact sheet about infant mortality and a list of links to publications and Web sites on the topic. Initiatives include

  A Healthy Baby Begins With You. Describes this national education campaign to raise awareness about infant mortality with an emphasis on the African American community.

  
  

Additional Electronic Publications

• Aizer A, Lleras-Muney A, Stabile M. 2004. Access to care, provider choice, and racial disparities in infant mortality. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. This paper explores the issue of whether consumer choice of health professionals explains any of the differences in birth outcomes between children born to poor parents in the United States and those born to non-poor parents, and, if it does, why poor women choose different health professionals than their non-poor counterparts.
  
  
• Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). 2006. Bringing home better birth outcomes. Washington, DC: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). This issue brief examines home visiting as a strategy employed by state health agencies to deliver public health interventions aimed at improving birth outcomes. This brief is written in follow-up to ASTHO's Strides among state health agencies to improve birth outcomes: A compendium of programs (2005).
  
  
• Behrman RE, Stith Butler A, eds., and Board on Health Sciences Policy, Committee on Understanding Premature Birth and Assuring Healthy Outcomes. 2007. Preterm birth: Causes, consequences, and prevention. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. This books assesses the problem of preterm birth in the United States with respect to both its causes and outcomes, including higher mortality and morbidy rates. It addresses the need for research involving clinical, basic, behavioral, and social science disciplines.
  
  
• Currie J, Neidell M. 2003. Air pollution and infant health: What can we learn from California's recent experience. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. This paper examines the impact of air pollution on infant death in California in the 1990s.
  
  
• Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). 2006. Preventing infant mortality, rev. ed. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services. This fact sheet describes the problem of infant mortality in the United States and DHHS's efforts to reduce mortality risks.
  
  
• Infant Mortality Task Force. 2005. Reducing infant mortality in Delaware: The task force report. Dover, DE: Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. This report focuses on infant mortality in Delaware and presents 20 recommendations to reduce infant mortality rates.
  
  
• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). 2007. 50 states summary of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) laws, rev. ed. Washington, DC: National Conference of State Legislatures. This compilation lists states with laws related to SIDS and offers a brief description of each law with links to more detailed information.
  
  
• O'Neill C. 2004. Healthy babies: Efforts to improve birth outcomes and reduce high risk births. Washington, DC: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. This report describes efforts -- including reducing infant mortality -- that states can make to improve birth outcomes.
  
  
• UNICEF. 2006. The state of the world's children, 2006. New York, NY: UNICEF. Table 1: Basic indicators contains infant mortality rate comparisons by country.
  

  
  

Databases

The databases listed below are excellent tools for identifying data, additional literature and research, and programs addressing infant mortality. Many of the entries below contain tips on how to use the databases efficiently. Please note that databases vary in how terms should be entered; for example, some require quotation marks and others don't. Enter search phrases as shown in bold below.

Data

• Child Trends DataBank. Reports on national trends and research on over 80 key indicators of infant, child, and adolescent well-being. Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization providing research and data to inform decision-making that affects families. Recent analyses about infant mortality include

  Infant, child, and youth death rates. (2006).

  Infant homicide. (2007).

• Data2010: The Healthy People 2010 Database. Contains the most recent monitoring data for tracking Healthy People 2010. To obtain data about infant mortality and contributing factors, click on the field, Data by Focus Area. Under the field, Select a Focus Area, choose 16 - Maternal, Infant, and Child Health from the pop-up menu. Next, click on the button for Include Related Objectives From Other Focus Areas in the Table. Click on the Submit button. This data set is provided by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) via CDC Wonder.
  
  
• Health Data for All Ages. Presents interactive online data tables on pregnancy and birth, health conditions and risk factors, health care access and use, and mortality. Infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality data are presented by cause, age, gender, race/Hispanic origin, geographic region, state, and territory, and for the United States overall. This data warehouse is a service of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
  
  
• KIDS COUNT. Contains information about this national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. Access the annual KIDS COUNT data book online to generate custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles of infant mortality, among other child health indicators. Also access Right Start Online, which contains national and state-by-state data reflecting conditions before birth, a newborn's health status at birth, and maternal characteristics that are associated with a child's educational and social outcomes. KIDS COUNT is a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF).
  
  
• Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. Contains data about infant births/deaths for children under age 1, occurring within the United States to U.S. residents. Counts can be obtained by state, county, child's age, weight, cause of death, maternal race, maternal age, maternal education, gestation period, prenatal care, live birth order, and marital status. This data set is provided by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) via CDC Wonder.
  
  
• National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™ (NQMC). Contains evidence-based health care quality measures and measure sets for physicians, hospitals, and health plans to evaluate and improve the quality of health care for consumers. Search for measures that target a particular disease/condition (e.g., infant mortality), treatment/intervention, age range, vulnerable population, setting of care, or contributing organization. The database is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
  
  
• PeriStats. Provides access to maternal and infant health-related data at the national, state, county, and city level by aggregating data from 11 government agencies and organizations. Topics include the timing and frequency of prenatal care, preterm birth, infant mortality, tobacco use, and health insurance coverage. Over 60,000 graphs, maps, and tables are available, and data are referenced to the relevant source. PeriStats is a service of the March of Dimes.
  
  
• State Health Facts Online. Contains state-level data on demographics, health, and health policy, including health coverage, access, financing, and state legislation. Information is displayed as bar graphs, tables, or color-coded maps. View individual state profiles or compare data for all states by category. For infant mortality-related data, click on the Health Status category and select one of several subcategories under Infants. This system is provided by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
  
  
• Title V Information System (TVIS). Contains data from annual Title V Block Grant applications and reports submitted by all 59 U.S. states and jurisdictions. To identify state efforts to reduce infant mortality, conduct several searches: (1) Select Program Data for the Most Recent Year; scroll to Medicaid/Non Medicaid Comparison and select Infants deaths per 1,000 live births. (2) Select Measurement and Indicator Data; select National Outcome Measures; and select a state and infant mortality measure. (3) Select Measurement and Indicator Data; scroll to State Data; select State Priority Needs Keyword Search; and select Keyword: Morbidity/Mortality and Population: Infants. (4) Select Measurement and Indicator Data; scroll to State Data; select State Outcome Measures; and select Keyword: Morbidity/Mortality and Population: Infants. (5) View State Snapshots of Maternal and Child Health for a summary of each state's infant mortality data. TVIS is a service of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).
  

Literature and Research

• Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Presents systematic reviews of health care interventions internationally. Type "infant mortality" for a list of review abstracts that can be browsed by title. Access to the full-text article requires a subscription. The database is published by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international nonprofit organization based in the United Kingdom.
  
  
• Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE). Contains summaries of systematic reviews that have met strict quality criteria. To be included, reviews must be about the effects of interventions. Each summary also provides a critical commentary on the quality of the review. Search the database by typing "infant mortality" OR "sudden infant death syndrome" in the search box. Click on Search to get your results. DARE is produced and maintained by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York.
  
  
• HP2010 Information Access Project: Maternal, Infant and Child Health. Provides an automatic search mechanism for published literature indexed in PubMed related to the Healthy People 2010 maternal and child health (MCH) objectives that include reducing fetal and infant deaths. Also links to the narrative for this objective and the complete chapter about MCH in the text, Healthy People 2010: Understanding and improving health, 2nd ed. (2000). This service is provided by the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce, a collaboration of federal agencies, public health organizations, and health sciences libraries.
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Library at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH), Georgetown University. Maintains several databases to collect, manage, and disseminate knowledge about MCH, with special emphasis on knowledge gained from initiatives and programs supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The library's bibliographic databases are

  Healthy Start Collection Database. Comprises an online catalog of over 2,000 items developed by Healthy Start sites, including brochures, bylaws, curricula, marketing materials, policies, and national evaluation reports along with other material related to maternal and infant health. Materials are classified according to the nine Healthy Start models of intervention that range from community-based consortia to risk prevention and reduction.

  MCHLine®. Comprises an online catalog of materials in the Maternal and Child Health Library. A selection of recent library items are listed in the bibliography, Infant mortality.

  The Maternal and Child Health Library also offers organizations and programs databases.

• National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC). Contains evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related materials for health professionals. Identify guidelines by entering "infant mortality" OR "sudden infant death syndrome" in the Search field. The database is an initiative of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
  
  
• National Sudden Infant Death Resource Center (NSIDRC): Topics A-Z. Offers links to electronic resources collected from national, state, and local SIDS/Infant Death programs, as well as perinatal, stillbirth, maternal and child health, and bereavement organizations. The resources include fact sheets, brochures, booklets, posters, order forms, and electronic materials in CD/DVD/video format (including foreign-language materials).
  
  
• Native Health Database. Contains citations for health-related articles, reports, surveys, and other documents about the health and health care of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Nations. To identify citations on the topic, enter infant mortality OR sudden infant death syndrome. The database is sponsored by the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center.
  
  
• PubMed. Contains over 17 million citations for biomedical articles that date back to the 1950s. These citations are from MEDLINE and additional life sciences journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full-text articles and other related resources. To identify citations on the topic, enter the search phrase infant mortality OR sudden infant death syndrome. Then, click on Limits and make the following selections on the page: select a date (e.g. Published in the last 2 years); click on Humans; click on Languages: English; and select Tag Terms: MeSH Major Topic. Selecting Type of Article further limits the search. PubMed is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
  

Programs

• Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) Service Delivery Sites. Offers contact information for community health centers that provide free or low-cost care to underserved populations. The database is searchable by geographic area, clinic name, and type of service provided, including obstetrical care, primary care, and mental health services. BPHC is part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Library at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH), Georgetown University. Maintains two databases to identify organizations and programs that address infant mortality:

  MCH Organizations Database. Lists over 2,000 government, professional, and voluntary organizations involved in MCH activities, primarily at a national level. Organizations focusing on infant mortality prevention appear in a list produced from the database.

  MCH Projects Database. Comprises an online catalog of projects funded by MCHB. To identify projects that focus on the topic, enter "infant mortality" in the simple search field of the database search form and click on status: active. Several final reports from these projects are available online and include recent Healthy Start impact reports.

• National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO): Model Practice Database. Contains information about model state and local public health programs. Search by state or health topic. For effective programs to address infant mortality, select Maternal and Child Health under the section, Community Health.
  
  
• Promising Practices Network (PPN) on Children, Families and Communities: Programs That Work. Features descriptions of evaluated programs that improve outcomes for children. Identify programs, including those that address infant mortality, by searching on topic area, evidence level, or alphabetically. PPN is operated by the RAND Corporation.
  

  
  

Electronic Newsletters and Online Discussion Groups

• Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Subscription List System. Offers several electronic alert services for consumer product recalls and safety news, including those products used in homes and communities that are potentially hazardous for infants.
  
  
• Getting Off to a Healthy Start. This newsletter, published quarterly by the National Healthy Start Association (NHSA), informs Healthy Start staff and others in the MCH community about successful community-based approaches to reducing infant mortality and improving perinatal outcomes. The newsletter also highlights research and evaluation findings, legislative activities, and conference announcements.
  
  
• NFIMR List Service. Administered by the National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program (NFIMR), this online discussion group aims to encourage an information exchange among FIMR programs and individuals interested in infant mortality reviews.
  
  
• State-to-State SIDS and Infant Death Listserv. This electronic discussion group focuses on SIDS and other causes of infant death to help support state and local infant mortality and risk reduction programs. The discussion group features monthly updates on research, program development, policy and legislative issues, conferences, and funding opportunities, and it provides a forum for sharing successful outreach and education strategies. National SIDS & Infant Death Project IMPACT moderates this electronic discussion group.
  

  
  

Special Topics

Birth Defects

• MedlinePlus: Birth Defects. Offers a select list of authoritative health information sources about birth defects for health professionals and families. The list is available in English and Spanish. Includes a link to an automatic search in MEDLINE/PubMed for recent research articles on birth defects. MedlinePlus is a service of the Natio