Infant mortality initiative names new director

The Milwaukee Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families, a community-wide collaborative to reduce the city's stubbornly high infant mortality rate and to eliminate racial disparities in birth outcomes, on Monday named Natalie Harlan as its new director.

The initiative also announced its top priority to attack the rate at which Milwaukee babies die before the first birthdays: the reduction of premature births.

"Infant mortality is one of the most complex health issues in our community, but the most important factor is premature births," said Tom Barrett, co-chair of Milwaukee LIHF.

"To drive down the unacceptable racial disparity in infant deaths and support the health of all babies, we are focusing our work on the key drivers of premature births."

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African American babies die in Milwaukee at a rate that is three times that of white babies. Prematurity accounts for three out of five deaths. And while the vast majority of the roughly 1,000 city's yearly preterm babies survive, their prematurity places them at risk for sky-high medical costs, developmental delays and lifelong health challenges.

The United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County is the convening agency for Milwaukee LIHF, and it picked Harlan to run the initiative.

Nicole Angresano, United Way's vice president for community impact, called Harlan "uniquely qualified to lead the next stage of our infant mortality work."

Harlan was director of operations at MWH Law Group, and she serves on numerous boards, including Milwaukee Montessori School, the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee's Board of Visitors and The Cinderella Project.