Michigan's high infant mortality rate is a state tragedy that cannot continue. In 1991, Michigan's infant mortality rate of 10.4 deaths per 1,000 live births exceeded the national rate of 8.9 and was worse than many poorer countries. To combat this situation we will expand home visits to young children and their families to ensure a healthy start in life. Currently, public-health workers and home-health workers provide services to women with at-risk pregnancies and newborn infants for up to 60 days after birth. Mothers who receive these services are at risk for any number of reasons, including poor nutrition, abuse of alcohol or other drugs, lack of transportation to medical care, and evidence that the mother is unable to take care of herself and possibly her child.

Maternal-support services will provide prenatal care to pregnant women so that babies are more likely to be born healthy.

After birth, keeping the child healthy is the next challenge--one that clearly is not met in enough cases. Infant support services will complement and complete the current maternal-support system. Infant support services will be available to families who have histories of abuse and neglect, parents who have few parenting skills, or for premature or low-weight infants. These services, available during a child's first year, will ensure that parents meet the nutritional, developmental, and health needs of their children. The Maternal and Infant Support teams will link parents and children with local community services to provide a continued services to provide a continued healthy environment.