Indiana's infant mortality progress at risk without sustained health funding

Indianapolis Star

15-07-2025

As a first-time mom, I took a deep breath of relief at my daughter's 1-year-old birthday party as she dug into a giant chocolate cupcake. A maternal health researcher and anxious new parent, I had lived the past year constantly checking for breath and movement while she slept, and her first birthday signaled an end to the anxiety of monitoring for sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.
But more than 500 Hoosier mothers a year never get to experience that sigh of relief; their babies don't make it to their first birthday. Although preliminary data suggests a decrease in Hoosier infant mortality, current trends in public health funding endanger this recent progress.
The Indiana Department of Health has released provisional infant mortality data, showing infant deaths in Indiana decreasing from 6.6 out of every 1,000 live births in 2023 to 6.3 infant deaths out of every 1,000 live births in 2024. Assuming a birth rate similar to 2023, we can guess that about 16 fewer Hoosier babies died in 2024 than in 2023.
Understandably, the dedicated public servants that comprise IDOH celebrated their hard work over the last decades, and especially since the inception of the pandemic, lauding the 'lowest infant mortality rate since the 1900s.'
Opinion: Indiana misses out on good ideas by caring more about politics than results
We won't know how Indiana ranks nationally until the CDC releases all states' 2024 data, but with a rate still well above the national average of 5.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, we can expect that Indiana has not solved the crisis that left us ranked 45th for infant deaths as recently as 2022. And while saving 16 babies should most certainly be promoted as a success of our state and local public health agencies, current public health funding in Indiana will not sustain these gains.
When preventing infant deaths, many think of safe sleep practices, timely pediatric care and vaccinations. But, in reality, most infant deaths are due to prenatal influences.
Almost 75% of infant deaths result from congenital conditions (like birth defects), conditions of preterm birth, low birth weight and maternal pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia. Some of these are unpreventable, like congenital conditions that disallow a baby from developing the organs needed to sustain life. Many others are preventable through early and consistent prenatal care, quick referral to specialists, and early medical intervention. IDOH and local health departments provide programs to new moms that offer these preventive measures.
But the most recent state budget and a series of other legislative actions endanger these programs. Projected shortfalls attributed to economic uncertainty led to the decimation of historic public health funding supported by the Holcomb administration, leaving just $40 million for Indiana's 92 counties, down from $100 million in previous budgets.
Opinion: Nurses are drowning while Braun ignores Indiana's health care crisis
Add that to the nearly $40 million in federal public health dollars lost from cancellation of COVID-era funding for myriad public health programs, and programs that support healthy pregnancies and healthy babies are in grave danger.
And when Hoosier babies do make it past infancy, public health funding clawbacks and policy changes in the last six months won't bolster efforts to Make Indiana Healthy Again. Cuts to programs such as Indiana Immunization Coalition in the midst of a (now-ended) measles outbreak and ongoing COVID threat, policies privileging business growth over environmental regulations that protect lung and heart health, and the elimination of critical reproductive health services across the state leave vulnerable Hoosiers in a state of precarity.
To be sure, even one fewer Hoosier infant death should be celebrated. But when that celebration is not backed by sustainable policy, we will soon find ourselves seeking solutions that take years to rebuild.
Now that my daughter is an energetic 6-year-old, my worries about SIDS and lethal respiratory viruses have been replaced by new concerns. But regardless of standard parental anxiety, I consider myself lucky to have to tackle these challenges as she grows.
For years, Indiana has trended in the right direction for public health. Indiana should support the systems that allow all Hoosier infants to grow into healthy kids and adults.