Efforts To Reduce Infant Mortality and Improve Pregnancy Outcome

GAO discussed the issues of infant mortality and improving pregnancy outcomes, focusing on federal efforts to reduce high-risk pregnancies. GAO noted that: (1) since 1950, the U.S. infant mortality rate has declined from 29.2 to 14.1 per 1,000 live births; (2) to reduce infant mortality, the federal government provides funds for hospital construction, health care training, research, and programs to provide health care and supplemental foods for low-income, disadvantaged mothers and infants; (3) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working to better coordinate its health service delivery and health care financing programs; (4) HHS should expand Medicaid coverage to cover more low-income women; (5) HHS should improve its family planning programs to prevent more unplanned or unwanted pregnancies and optimize the timing of high-risk pregnancies; (6) HHS family planning efforts are often not well coordinated with local and nonprofit family planning programs; (7) HHS has not effectively regulated obstetric drugs, medical devices, and procedures, and has not effectively researched, or educated the public on, the risks of various obstetric practices; (8) HHS should grant more cost reimbursement waivers for National Health Service Corps personnel used to improve pregnancy outcomes in high infant mortality areas; (9) expanded use of midwives would facilitate access to prenatal care for many women in medically underserved areas; and (10) HHS should expand its efforts to increase public awareness of infant mortality issues.