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Infant deaths have risen for the first time in 20 years
Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times, Nov. 1
For the first time in two decades, the nation’s infant mortality rate has risen significantly. A report by the National Center for Health Statistics showed the number of American babies who died before their first birthday increased last year. America’s rates of infant and maternal mortality are higher than those in other industrialized countries. Those rates are particularly poor among Black and Native American mothers who are roughly three times as likely to die during and after pregnancy compared with white and Hispanic mothers.
Migrants in cities across the US may need medical care. It’s not that easy to find Devi Shastri, Associated Press, Nov. 2
Tens of thousands of migrants who’ve come to the United States are navigating a patchwork system to find treatment for new or chronic health concerns. Beyond care for medical emergencies, migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border rarely receive medical screenings, according to doctors around the country. There is no nationwide system to track care either. “You have these little islands of care. You have these little islands of shelter,” said Deliana Garcia, of the nonprofit Migrant Clinicians Network, which supported more than 1,000 migrants in need of medical care in the first 10 months of this year. “But how does anyone know what’s going on east to west or north to south?”
Children who survive shootings endure huge health obstacles and costs
Liz Szabo, KFF Health News, Nov. 6
Oronde McClain was struck by a stray bullet on a Philadelphia street corner when he was 10. The bullet shattered the back of his skull, splintering it into 36 pieces. Now at 33, he remains partially paralyzed and endures seizures and post-traumatic stress disorder. A new study in Health Affairs found that being shot added an average of $35,000 to the health care costs of each young person studied, compared with the expenses of those who weren’t shot. “They push you out of the hospital like you have a normal life,’’ McClain said. “But you will never have a normal life. You are in this club that you don’t want to be in.”
A CT health expert looked for books about Latinas in nursing and found none. So she wrote one.
Maddi Langweil, Hartford Courant, Nov 6
“Latinas in Nursing” is a collection of stories from 15 Latina nurses in different specialties. Tina Loarte-Rodriguez decided to pursue her idea for the book nearly three years ago, with a vision of empowering Latina nurses. “I stood up late one night looking for books about Latina nurses or Latinos in nursing or anything regarding people who look like me and nursing and I didn’t find anything,” Loarte-Rodriguez said.