Tulsa County health officials raising awareness about prenatal care

Monday, December 12th 2005, 6:14 am

By: News On 6

Every year, hundreds of infants in Tulsa County die before they reach their first birthday. This holiday season, health officials are remembering those infants and trying to raise awareness about prenatal care.

For every 1,000 births in Tulsa County, more than 7 babies will die. The Tulsa Fetal Infant Mortality Review Program wants to change that. Pam Rask with the Tulsa Fetal Infant Mortality Review Program: "It's very sad to hear stories about babies who die and it's very difficult to bring that issue to people's attention. The only thing we can do is try to make the systems work better."

Experts say having prenatal care and good nutrition could help save lives.

The Tulsa City County Health Department is working with Floral Haven to remember babies who have died this year by displaying the Holiday Memory tree through the end of January.