John,

We have amazing news. 

Thanks to Governor Holcomb's leadership, Indiana's infant mortality rate just fell to the LOWEST level EVER recorded in our state’s history. 

We’ve taken direct and impactful action to protect our state’s most vulnerable citizens, including: 

• Implementing Levels of Care certification for perinatal programs at hospitals and birthing centers to ensure that mothers and babies get care at a facility with a level of care that matches their risk.
• Expanding the Nurse-Family Partnership Program to combat infant mortality rates.
• Starting Indiana’s OB Navigator program that connects pregnant women in Indiana’s highest-risk ZIP codes with wraparound health services.

There’s still work to do on this front, but this news is wonderful for our state. It’s just the latest pro-life success story from the Holcomb administration, coming on the heels of the big news that Indiana leads the nation in adoptions out of foster care!

”We are committed to ensuring the best chance for a healthy pregnancy and a strong start to life for Indiana’s newborns. While we celebrate these results, our work is far from finished, and we won’t rest as we work to protect our youngest.” - Governor Eric Holcomb

John, Indiana has seen amazing results thanks to Governor Holcomb’s leadership, including three straight years of decline in our infant mortality rate. It’s now at its lowest level since 1900 - the first year Indiana started recording infant mortality rates!

“We’ve known all along that reducing Indiana’s infant mortality rate would take time and partnerships, and it’s gratifying to see that work pay off. We must continue to encourage early prenatal care and promote safe sleep practices so that we can celebrate more first birthdays in Indiana.” - State Health Commissioner Kris Box, M.D., FACOG

Governor Holcomb has made reducing Indiana’s infant mortality rate a priority, with the goal of achieving the lowest infant mortality rate in the Midwest by 2024.

Under Governor Holcomb’s leadership, Indiana has taken the following steps to improve infant and maternal health in recent years, including:

• Creating an obstetrician-gynecologist navigator program that provides personalized support, resources, and referrals to mothers through the first year of their babies’ lives.
• Developing a Levels of Care system for birthing hospitals to ensure that women deliver their babies at the facility that best meets their needs.
• Adopting obstetrical safety bundles through the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health
• Allocating more than $27 million in Safety PIN grants since 2017 to community partners for both novel and evidence-based programs to reduce infant mortality and improve the health and well-being of mothers and babies.
• Requiring prenatal care providers to conduct a verbal screening for substance use disorder for all pregnant women so they can receive services that improve their health and that of their babies.
• Establishing a committee to review every maternal death in the state, with the goal of understanding the causes and developing strategies to prevent future cases.

Thank you for reading - help us spread the good news by sharing our video below on Facebook!

Sincerely, 

Holcomb Crew