Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

TOPEKA — The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Network of Kansas is facing a more than 30 percent cut in funding for the coming fiscal year, members of the state's Blue Ribbon Panel on Infant Mortality learned today.

Christy Schunn — who runs the SIDS Network and sits on the 16-member infant mortality panel — said she learned this week that $75,000 of her $190,000 budget was being cut due to federal reductions of maternal and child health programs.

"This makes it questionable whether we will be able to continue — whether we will be able to find more money," she said.

Diane Daldrup, a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel, said she feared the cuts could soon lead to higher infant mortality rates.

'More to come'

"I think our premature birth rates and infant mortality rates are going to begin to creep back up if access to care diminishes," said Daldrup, director of the March of Dimes Greater Kansas Chapter. "There's more to come, unfortunately."

Daldrup said her organization also was concerned that the state's coming Medicaid reform proposal — set to be unveiled in mid-October — could reduce access to care for young mothers.

With seven infant deaths per 1,000 births, Kansas currently ranks 40th among states for infant mortality. The state's death rate for black infants is the worst in the nation at 19.6 per 1,000, according to the National Center for Vital Statistics.

Among other things, the SIDS Network provides data-based insights into the causes of infant deaths.

Schunn is the sole interviewer for the Wichita-based pilot program that employs the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review survey to collect information from mothers who recently have had a baby die.

Members of the panel have agreed that collecting localized data on the causes of infant mortality is critical to bringing down the state's high infant death rates.

However, Kansas this year was not granted federal funding for the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) that the panel hoped to launch for gathering local data.

State officials found out in March that Kansas would not receive a $153,393 federal grant to underwrite the program. The funding cycle for the program is every five years, so Kansas cannot apply again until 2015.

In April, the panel decided to seek private funding for PRAMS.

Today panel members agreed to write a letter to each of the state's health foundations appealing for money for PRAMS.

Awareness campaign

The panel also learned about progress made in its awareness campaign.

The SIDS Network on Saturday is scheduled to hold its second "Baby Shower" — a community event to distribute healthy baby information as well as cribs and safe-sleep blankets. The event is targeted at poorer black women in Wichita, where the infant mortality rate is highest.

Schunn said network volunteers will make sure mothers have prenatal care and insurance or will work with them to sign up for Medicaid and help them learn safe sleep techniques.

"If they agree to listen and work with us, they will walk away with a sleep sack and a crib," Schunn said.

She said she had 150 cribs and 150 sleep sacks to distribute. The event is at 1 p.m. Saturday at the All Occasions Events Center, 4940 E. 21st St., Wichita. It is free and open to the public.