Saving babies: the impact of public education programs on infant mortality.
We take advantage of unique data on specific activities conducted under the Sheppard-Towner Act from 1924 through 1929 to focus on how public health interventions affected infant mortality. Interventions that provided one-on-one contact and opportunities for follow-up care, such as home visits by nurses and the establishment of health clinics, reduced infant deaths more than did classes and conferences. These interventions were particularly effective for nonwhites, a population with limited access to physicians and medical care. Although limited data on costs prevent us from making systematic cost-benefit calculations, we estimate that one infant death could be avoided for every $1,600 (about $20,400 in 2010 dollars) spent on home nurse visits.
Department of Economics, Rutgers University, 75 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA, cmoehling@economics.rutgers.edu.
Carolyn M
CM
Moehling
Melissa A
MA
Thomasson
D005380:Financing, Government; D006266:Health Education / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology