Pregnant women in Philadelphia are getting $1,000 a month as part of a pilot program in hopes of lowering the city’s infant mortality rate.
Starting next year, 250 mothers-to-be will receive the non-committal payments from their third month of pregnancy through their baby’s first birthday.
Known as the Philly Joy Bank, the pilot program will be conducted in the areas of the city with the highest rates of low birth weight: Cobbs Creek, Strawberry Mansion and Nicetown-Tioga.
Of the ten most populous cities in the US, Philadelphia has the highest infant mortality rate. The arrangement also comes amid a baby bust across America, with fewer women than ever having children — amid shifting family values.
About 250 women receive the voluntary benefit monthly from their third month of pregnancy until their child’s first birthday
Fertility in the US has fallen sharply in recent decades (above). The average American woman will have only 1.6 children in her lifetime, well below the replacement level of 2.1
Announcement of the scheme on a press conference announcing the scheme on Monday, Dr. Stacey Kallem, director of the Maternal, Child and Family Health Division of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said: ‘Freedom is key.
“We respect the dignity and autonomy of program participants to use the funds as they see fit to improve their health and the health of their babies.”
The city’s infant mortality rate is 1.5 times higher than the national average, and black babies are more than four times more likely to die before their first birthday than white babies.
The schedule is inspired by other similar offerings in other states. In Canada’s Manitoba, pregnant women can get up to $81 a month.
Meanwhile, the Abundant Birth Project pilot in San Francisco provides $1,000 monthly to expectant mothers for a year.
The Philadelphia pilot program must meet its $6 million funding goal to begin operations in 2024.
“Research has shown that supporting pregnant people with cash payments can improve birth outcomes associated with infant mortality, including low birth weight and preterm birth,” Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said at Monday’s news conference.
Pennsylvania fertility rates are at their lowest in a decade
Child mortality rates in Philadelphia are rising among Hispanics and Asians
Philadelphia had the highest infant mortality rate in 2017 compared to other major cities and counties in the US
In 2021 in Pennsylvania, one in ten babies will be born prematurely and one in twelve will be born with a low birth weight.
A preterm birth is defined as a baby born before 37 weeks, while a low birth weight is one under five pounds.
It’s because fertility rates in Pennsylvania are at their lowest in a decade.
Over the past 20 years, the decline was most pronounced among non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islanders, but the birth rate among non-Hispanic white women was more stable.
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health said differences in birth outcomes by race and ethnicity are “wide and alarming.”
More than 15 percent of babies born to non-Hispanic black mothers had low birth weights — 40 percent higher than the city’s average.
Nearly 15 percent of babies born to non-Hispanic black women were born prematurely, about 30 percent more than the city average.
About 93 percent of Cobbs Creek’s population is Black people, as is Strawberry Mansion’s 94 percent.
As of 2021, 76 percent of Nicetown-Tioga was black, 9 percent Hispanic, and three percent Asian.
One of the most damning statistics for America is its poor record of infant and maternal mortality.
Often considered a measure of a country’s overall development, America has a famously poor record when it comes to childbirth.
The U.S. has 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 births each year — by far the most of all 13 countries in the study.
It also had 23.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 births – a staggering rate of ten more than any comparable country.