U.S. moms' deteriorating health hurts kids

WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- U.S. infant mortality rates have stalled since 2000, following 40 years of progress, Annie E. Casey Foundation and Trust for America's Health officials said.

The report, "Kids Count Databook," said the deteriorating health of American women -- due in part to wide-spread chronic disease epidemics like obesity and diabetes -- is taking a toll on American infants.

"In the wake of all the great medical breakthroughs over the last 40 years, one would assume that infant mortality rates would plummet. Instead, medical progress has been canceled out in the delivery room by the deteriorating health of childbearing-aged women and their lack of healthcare access; and infant mortality rates have stalled as a result," Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said in a statement.

"We know now that an infant's chances of sickness, disability and survival often hinge on the health of the mother, before she even becomes pregnant," Levi said. "Therefore, the way to reduce risks to newborn babies is to invest in a woman's health throughout her childbearing years."

The report said approximately 30 percent of women who give birth have some form of pregnancy complication.

Prematurity and low birth weights are often associated with health issues in the mother, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or obesity, the report said.