The Butler County Partnership to Reduce Infant Mortality (PRIM) will host a “Day of Dialogue on Race and Infant Mortality.” This is the second in a series of ongoing meetings designed to start and support conversations around disparities between white and black babies in birth outcomes and infant mortality.
Two sessions will be held on Saturday, Jan. 23 at the YWCA, 244 Dayton St. in Hamilton. The first session will be held from 9 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. (includes free breakfast sponsored by Paramount), or 1 -4:30 p.m, (includes free lunch sponsored by CareSource).
About the series
This is Part 1 of a 3-part series that examines why black babies in Butler County are dying at twice the rate of white babies. The series will explore the problem, causes and possible solutions. Through our coverage we want to inform readers, raise awareness and provide you with information about how you can aid in solving the problem.
Friday: An overview of Butler County's infant mortality rates
Today: Local mothers who have lost children speak about infant mortality rates
Sunday: Community, political and health leaders discuss possible solutions
For any woman, the loss of a child is unfathomable and the experience beyond what words can describe.
Jenny Bailer, the nursing director at the Butler County Health Department and co-lead of the Partnership to Reduce Infant Mortality (PRIM), says research is being conducted to look at a variety of factors involved with black women losing their children at such a high rate. In Butler County, black babies dies before the age of 1 at twice the rate of white babies, statistics show.
Poverty, education, access to prenatal care, smoking, and even low birth weight are factors that have drawn a lot of attention from medical experts. But it is the stories from the women — what they went through, their life story — that is one of the best research models available, health experts say.
Two local African American women recently shared their stories of loss with the Journal-News. They lost their child outside of the infant mortality rate definition — but their experiences are nonetheless a key observation point to what can happen leading up to the loss of a baby yet to be born and how to persevere afterwards.
“We really have to look at everything to try to figure out what is happening,” Bailer said.
Shattered dreams
Raven Smith, 36, is a brave mother. She sits calmly inside the Butler County Department of Health on a bitter cold day, and recounts with great courage how she lost her baby, but more importantly, how she made it through the experience. She can remember Aug. 13, 2013 very well.
“It was actually Aug. 15, 2013, and the pregnancy was going great. I always had nice, healthy babies,” said Smith of Middletown. “I have two — an 8 and 10 year old — and that was my third, and for some reason towards the end of the pregnancy I started having problems with sciatica and nerve problems.
“I was about 36 weeks and I was having a lot of contractions back-to-back-to-back, and I wasn’t able to go to my hospital so I went to the one closest to my neighborhood a predominantly black neighborhood,” she said.
At the time, Smith was living in Chicago, and the hospital that primarily served the poor, Jackson Park, was where she ended up instead of the hospital of choice, Northwestern.
“They told me they were out of beds and to come back another day,” Smith said. “So they saw me and said I could go home and come back another day. About two weeks later, I noticed that I didn’t feel any movement. At this point I’m about 38 weeks. I went in and that is when I found the baby didn’t have heartbeat.”
Smith said the hospital scheduled her to deliver within 24 hours.
“I remember having to sit in the hospital with a deceased baby in me for 24 hours, which is the worst feeling on earth, and you feel it kind of slumping over. They took her out and I was able to hold her. Her name was Anna Simone. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve been through in my entire life,” Smith said.
Putting the pieces together
Smith and her fiance, Donald Clutch, left Chicago and were headed east. While passing through Ohio, near Middletown, Clutch had a heart attack. They ended up staying with a relative in Butler County and that ended up being a blessing.
High Hopes is a program offered by the Butler County Health Department that is an outreach program designed to help African-American women in the area deal with pregnancy issues.
“I got connected with High Hopes and we went to Atrium in Middletown,” Smith said. “Since we have been here in August of 2015, the people here have been so compassionate and shown empathy to our situation as a family. I am just floored.”
Smith praised Jennifer Carter, a High Hopes certified community health worker, who has been helping her with any health issue or question she has. Smith is now 36 weeks pregnant with her third child (it’s a boy, Donald, Jr.) who will be the brother of Sean Michael, 10, and Savannah, 8.
“I feel excited about the baby,” Smith said. “I am in a healthy place. I have people like Jennifer saying, ‘the baby is fine.’”
She added some words of encouragement for those that are going through what she’s been through.
“Keep your head up, and if you have children, love the ones you have because some women may not have an opportunity to have another child. Just as quick as life is here, is just as quick as life can go,” Smith said.
The loss of innocence
Kevin and Crystal Aldridge are both 36 years old and live in Butler County. Both have heard the data that reveals black babies in the county are dying before the age of 1 at twice the rate of white babies.
They also have a date in their head that just won’t ever be erased. Both of them hope sharing their story helps sheds some light on the issue.
“My wife and I were expecting a girl, Kelis, she would be 9 now,” Kevin said. “She was scheduled to be born in January of 2007. Crystal was 34 weeks pregnant and went in for a routine checkup in mid-December of 2007 and the doctor was not able to locate a heartbeat and determined Kelis passed away…she was strangled by the umbilical cord.”
Crystal went through normal birthing process to determine what had happened to her daughter. The couple does have two other children, Ava, 7, and Zoe, who is 17 months. But Kelis is always on their minds.
“I think we went through what most people go through — it was our first pregnancy and I was not high-risk so they didn’t talk about race or any of the other issues related to infant mortality,” Crystal explained. “The doctors said she was just very active and got wrapped up in the cord and could not get herself out.”
With the loss of Kelis, the couple felt something else was missing.
“You feel like you lose your innocence when you lose a child. It was different going through another pregnancy after losing a child,” she said.
God, finding hope
The couple got involved with the Atrium Medical Center’s HEAL (Help Endure a Loss) program and High Hopes. Crystal said the help makes a difference.
“I feel like the HEAL program and Sherry Young, who runs it, were great. It was a great support system for me,” Crystal said. “When I was pregnant with Zoe, the High Hopes program had a worker come to see me and it was helpful. I qualified because I had lost a child. I feel for women who don’t have access to programs like that.”
Kevin has been a pastor for 20 years and for the past two at Middletown’s Church on the Rock. He never questioned his faith after losing Kelis, but the road to recovery shook the foundation.
“I wasn’t mad at God, I was mad at life,” he said. “In my mind, Crystal and I were good stewards during the pregnancy process and yet this happened to us. You read all the time about individuals who don’t take care of themselves or don’t live right, so there was some initial bitterness, but that was just plain emotion. I wasn’t mad at God, just mad at life.”
The couple said burying a child is something that you can’t anticipate, but don’t try to navigate the emotional turmoil alone.
“Be careful to not turn on each other and try to play the blame game,” Kevin said. “And don’t be afraid to remind people of the memory of your child. Be proud that you did have that time even if it was inside of the womb or a short time after the baby was born.”
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