ROCKINGHAM — Eight Richmond County children died in 2017, according to a report released earlier this month by the Child Fatality Prevention Team, which found that none of the deaths were the direct result of failures in the county’s family and child care systems.
Of those deaths, six were due to premature births, one was due to hydocephalus (excess fluid in the brain) and one was due to accidental suffocation while sleeping next to an adult, the report says. Four of the fatalities were black males, two were white males and two were black females.
Richmond County is now in its third year of a $70,000 infant mortality grant which funds a safe sleep class and a smoking cessation class, according to Tommy Jarrell, director of Health and Human Services. Participants are chosen based on need, according to Cheryl Speight, chair of the Child Fatality Prevention Team.
By the end of the safe sleep class, parents will learn safe ways to put a baby down to sleep and, once they complete it, they will be eligible to receive a crib. Jarrell said the county gives away a limited number of cribs each year.
The smoking cessation classes are for those who are pregnant or who are around small children. Smoking has been linked to preterm labor in pregnant women. Speight said in the report that Richmond County has a high percentage of pregnant women who smoke.
“Hopefully these initiatives will lower our infant mortality numbers in the future,” Speight said.
Jarrell advised that anyone looking to quit smoking can call QuitlineNC at 1-800-784-8669.
Jasmine Hager contributed to this report.