THE
JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: October 20,
2005)
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VALHALLA — Kimbrid Hawkins thought she took all the necessary prenatal measures to ensure that her twins would be born healthy, including bed rest, healthy foods and doctors' appointments starting in her sixth week of pregnancy.
Despite Hawkins' efforts, her twin daughters were born 11 weeks premature Aug. 22 and Aug. 25. The girls, who remain hospitalized at the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in Valhalla, unknowingly contributed to the high rate of premature and low-birth-weight children among minority women.
The subject of premature births, especially among black women, brought about 300 health professionals from seven Lower Hudson Valley counties to Westchester Medical Center yesterday to discuss their outreach to minority communities and their efforts to combat the problem.
Doctors said solutions to rising rates of premature births are complex. Dr. Edmund F. La Gamma, the chief of newborn medicine at Westchester Medical Center, said socioeconomic status, education, family relationships, access to health care and the availability of transportation all contribute to low birth weight and prematurity. A national aversion to preventive medicine also plays a role, La Gamma said.
"Americans don't think about health until they're sick," said La Gamma, who acknowledged that some of the complex societal factors contributing to low birth weight and prematurity fall beyond the scope of medicine.
La Gamma said yesterday's conference was designed to address nonmedical factors, such as a lack of health insurance and poverty, by allowing medical providers to network with social workers.
Hawkins, 28, of Yonkers doesn't know why she couldn't bring her babies to full term.
"My sister had a premature baby last year and she was the first in my family. They didn't have an explanation for her either," said Hawkins, who was visiting her daughters, Jordyn and Rian Thomas, in the hospital's neonatal ward yesterday.
Although the rate of premature births in the Lower Hudson Valley fell between 2000 and 2002, there are significant racial and ethnic health disparities in the numbers.
In Rockland County, premature births among black women rose by 55.3 percent over the two years, to 14.6 percent of births in 2002. Hispanics in Putnam County had a 24.1 percent increase in premature births, to 16.5 percent of births in 2002, compared to 10.6 percent for non-Hispanic whites.
In Westchester County, prematurity and low birth weight for minority women have either fallen or remained stable, though health disparities exist between black women and non-Hispanic white women. In 2002, 17.7 percent of black women had premature births compared to 11.2 percent of non-Hispanic white women.
Health commissioners in the counties had various explanations for the ethnic and racial disparities.
Dr. Sherlita Amler, Putnam's health commissioner, said an influx of Central American and Eastern European immigrants to her county has contributed to a lack of prenatal care for immigrant women because there is a shortage of multilingual health personnel in Putnam County.
Rockland's health commissioner, Dr. Joan Facelle, said her department "has a lot of work to do" to address a 12 percent low-birth-weight rate among black women, double that of non-Hispanic white women.
Dr. Joshua Lipsman, Westchester County's health commissioner, is paying special attention to racial health disparities.
"African-Americans are a particular concern because improvements in other communities are not apparent with African-Americans," he said.
Hawkins, who is black, said she never pondered the incidence of premature babies in her community. She said many of her friends and relatives have inquired about her premature delivery, but she can't offer any answers.
Yesterday's conference featured a talk by Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, a former U.S. Surgeon General in the Clinton administration.
