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ELKHART — The Northern Indiana Hispanic Health Coalition has published a new peer-reviewed study in Frontiers in Global Women’s Health Journal examining how Hispanics in northern Indiana understand infant mortality and perinatal health.
The principal investigator was Dr. Jean Marie Place of Ball State University and the co-investigator was Liliana Quintero, CEO of NIHHC. The research amplifies the voices of Hispanic community members in Elkhart and surrounding counties.
The study, titled “If you show them love from an early age, they become healthier,” draws on in-depth interviews to explore how families define infant mortality, perinatal health and ways to have a healthy pregnancy.
The findings show how participants often connect infant mortality with parental neglect and lack of readiness when becoming pregnant.
Also, it shows that community members place less focus on prenatal care and clinical risk factors than what medical experts typically highlight. In fact, Place noted that the findings reveal “how participants place greater emphasis on postpartum care in the prevention of infant mortality as opposed to factors that contribute to healthy birth outcomes during the prenatal period.”
“These findings ref lect what we observe every day,” Quintero said. “Hispanic families care deeply for their babies, but barriers, misinformation, and difficult experiences within the health system can stand in their way. Listening to our community helps us respond with compassion, clarity, and culturally aligned support.”
While many community members associated infant deaths with accidents or injuries day-to-day caregiving, state data show that most infant deaths occur within the first month of life and are driven by pregnancy-related risks, such as prematurity, low birth weight, and unsafe sleep environments. This gap highlights the need for trusted, bilingual education that clearly links maternal health, prenatal care, and safe-sleep practices to infant survival.
Guided by the study’s findings, NIHHC continues expanding initiatives that promote healthy pregnancies and safer infant care. NIHHC’s current efforts include an educational marketing campaign featuring two trolleys traveling through Elkhart, Goshen, Mishawaka and South Bend.
NIHHC is also developing educational video podcast content focused on key public health priorities such as infant mortality, ensuring families have regular, accessible health information, right at their fingertips.
These programs focus on early and continuous prenatal care, healthy nutrition, stress and mental health support, and practical tools that help parents and extended families keep infants safe.
“This research gives us a roadmap,” Quintero said. “With clearer insight into community beliefs and values, we can build stronger programs, advocate for needed resources, and work toward Infant Vitality for Hispanic families in northern Indiana.”
The study was funded by the Indiana Minority Health Coalition and reflects NIHHC’s commitment to community-led research and equitable health outcomes across Elkhart, Kosciusko, Noble, and Marshall counties.
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