v ALABAMA'S HEATTH

labama's infant mortality rate is lowest ever reliminary statistics show Alabama's infant mortality rate for 2000 decreased to 9.4 per 1,000 live births from the 1999 rate of 9.8. The 2000 rate is the best ever recorded, according to the Center for Health Statistics of the Alabama Department of Public Health. Teen births and smoking during pregnancy are considered risk factors for infant mortality. One of the positive trends relating to this improvement includes reduced births to teenage girls. The percent of births to teenagers in Alabama declined to its lowest level in at least a decade, 15.7 percent. Another encouraging change was the decline in smoking by mothers from 12.8 percent in 1999 to I2.5 percent in 2000. The rate of smoking for teenage mothers also declined from 15.4 percent in 1999 to 15.1 in 2000. The infant mortality rate declined for both whites and blacks. The rate of 6.5 per 1000 births was the lowest ever attained for white infants, and the rate of 15.4 for black infants was the third lowest rate ever achieved for this group. One disturbing and lingering aspect of infant mortality is the disparity between the races, with the black rate being over twice as high as the white rate. State Health Officer Dr. Donald Williamson said, "The serious problem of infant mortality is extremely complex and will require major social changes to reach the governor's goal to reduce infant mortality by 25 percent by the end of the decade." Women intending to have children should be encouraged to l) stop smoking, 2) obtain early prenatal care, 3) position infants on their backs to sleep, 4) plan their pregnancies, 5) consume adequate amounts of folic acid, and 6) delay pregnancy beyond their teenage years Currently, the Governor's Task Force on Infant Mortality is in the final stages of completing its work to develop recommendations to address infant mortality. The Task Force will put forth recommendations in the near future. Expanding family planning programs can help to prevent unplanned pregnancies. Nearly half of all births in Alabama are unintended, according to Rhonda Stephens