By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI – Advocates for mother and infant health say the negative effects of budget cuts are reflected in Michigan's pregnancy statistics. The Right Start report from the Michigan League for Human Services says an uptick in low birth weights is of particular concern.
Jane Zehnder-Merrell is with the group. She says vital programs that help ensure the health of mothers and their babies are being cut.
"We have to start at day one," Zehnder-Merrell says. "We have bodies of research now about how important those years are and how those interventions shape the architecture of the brain, the developing brain. And we can't afford to wait until kids are in kindergarten or middle school or high school to start worrying about how they're doing in education."
The report also shows a disproportionate percentage of negative birth statistics - such as low birth weights and teen pregnancies - affect African American and Hispanic women in poorer communities.