Philadelphia’s pregnant women will be paid $1,000 per month in a pilot program that aims to lower the city’s infant mortality rate.
250 expectant mothers who are pregnant next year will receive no-strings payments beginning in the third month. This payment continues through the first birthday of their baby.
The pilot program, known as the Philly Joy Bank, will operate in the areas of the city with the highest rates of low birth weights — Cobbs Creek, Strawberry Mansion and Nicetown-Tioga.
Philadelphia is the US’s most populated city, with the highest infant death rate out of the ten.
The scheme also comes amid a baby bust across America that is seeing fewer women than ever having children, amid changing family values.
Announcing the scheme at a news conference on Monday, Dr Stacey Kallem, director of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Division of Maternal, Child, and Family Health, said: “The key is to be open-minded and not bound by any obligations.”
“We respect the dignity of the program participants and allow them to use the funds however they choose to improve their health or the health of their children.”
The infant mortality rate for the city is 1.5 times greater than the national average. Additionally, black babies are four times more likely die before they turn one than white babies.
This scheme was inspired by similar schemes in other states. Pregnant women in Manitoba, Canada can receive up to $81 per month.
The Abundant Birth Project pilot in San Francisco is offering $1,000 per month for a year to expectant mothers.
For Philadelphia to be able to start in 2024 it must raise $6 million to meet its funding goal.
‘Research has shown that supporting pregnant people with cash payments can improve birth outcomes that are associated with infant mortality, including low birth weight and prematurity,’ said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole at the news conference on Monday.
In 2021, 1 in 10 Pennsylvania infants were born prematurely and 1 in 12 had low birthweight.
Premature birth refers to a baby born earlier than 37 weeks. A low birth weight is a baby who is less than five pounds.
This is because Pennsylvania’s fertility rates are at their lowest level in ten years.
The decline in non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics and non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islanders was the most severe over the past 20-years. However, non-Hispanic white women had a more stable birth rate.
According to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, disparities in birth outcomes based on race and ethnicity are “large and alarming”.
More than 15 percent of babies born to non-Hispanic Black mothers were low birthweight — 40 percent higher than the city’s average.
Nearly 15% of non-Hispanic Black babies were preterm, about 30% more than the citywide median.
Some 93 percent of Cobbs Creek’s population is made up of Black people, as is 94 percent of Strawberry Mansion’s.
As of 2021, 76 percent of Nicetown-Tioga was Black, 9 percent was Hispanic and three percent was Asian.
America’s poor record in infant and maternal mortality is one of the most alarming statistics.
America’s record in childbirth is often considered a measure of the nation’s overall progress.
The US has 5.4 infant deaths for every 1,000 births per year, which is the highest rate of any 13 country in the study.
It also had 23.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, which is a shockingly high number of ten more than other comparable countries.
