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Child fatality prevention team cites infant deaths, youth suicide trends; recommends safe‑sleep campaign and other actions
Summary
The Buncombe County Community Child Protection Team reviewed 2023 deaths in its 2024 annual report, found perinatal conditions and unsafe sleep leading causes among infants, noted elevated Black infant mortality disparity, and recommended safe-sleep education, first-responder training and advocacy for paid family leave.
Dr. Molendorf, chair of the Buncombe County Community Child Protection Team and Child Fatality Prevention Team, presented the team's 2024 annual report to the board on May 6, summarizing reviews of child deaths that occurred in 2023.
Per the report, perinatal conditions (extreme prematurity, placental complications and similar disorders) were the leading cause of child fatalities for the reviewed year; illnesses and suicide were next most common. The team reported that roughly 60% of the fatalities reviewed involved children under 1 year old — a pattern consistent with statewide and national data — and that sudden unexplained infant deaths associated with unsafe sleep and co‑sleeping continued to be a prominent risk factor.
The team described a concerning disparity in infant mortality: for the five-year period 2019–2023 the county's infant mortality disparity ratio was nearly 3, meaning non‑Hispanic Black infants in Buncombe County experienced about three times the infant mortality rate of non‑Hispanic white infants over that period. Dr. Molendorf said the disparity had worsened compared with the previous five‑year period and called for continued focus on Black maternal and infant health and the social determinants of health driving the gap.
The team recommended a series of prevention strategies, including launching an infant safe‑sleep public education campaign (originally planned for October but delayed by storm recovery), training first responders to assess and provide safe‑sleep education during calls, and advocating for paid family leave through the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors' advocacy platform and the commissioners' legislative agenda. The team also used limited state prevention funds to pay for signage promoting the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline in county parks and other community locations.
Dr. Molendorf emphasized that the local teams operate as part of a statewide child fatality prevention system established by state statute and that local reviews examine deaths from the prior calendar year (the 2024 report reviews 2023 deaths). The board received the report and commissioners thanked the team for its work.
