VERNAL — State health officials have validated concerns of a midwife who noted a higher incidence of stillbirths in her area, though statistics show more can be done by advocating for the health of new moms than by tackling the booming energy industry.

"Everyone wants to point to environmental factors, they want to blame the oil fields," said Jeramie Tubbs, spokeswoman for the TriCounty Health Department in eastern Utah. "It's not an air quality issue."

The 2013 stillbirth rate in Duchesne, Daggett and Uintah counties was 5.9 per 1,000 live births, the highest it has been since 1994, according to a recent report.

But the numbers don't indicate an ongoing trend, rather a somewhat concerning high point.

Donna Young, the Lapoint midwife of 20 years who raised the initial concern, said that even if questionable deaths aren't still occurring, those families deserve answers.

The health department, she said, "needs to stop playing politics and find out what is actually going on." Young would love to have an "unbiased" study, "to find out what is costing these babies their lives."

Statistical findings

The TriCounty adverse outcome statistical review released Wednesday by the Utah Department of Health Environmental Epidemiology Program does not point to causes of various adverse birth outcomes, but tallies and compares data obtained from throughout the state through the Office of Vital Records and Statistics.

The report states that about 16 percent of Utah pregnancies and 20 percent of the three-county region studied end in an adverse birth outcome — low birth weight, premature births, small-for-gestational-age births, infant deaths and stillbirths — but the rate has been consistent for the past 10 years.

It did not find "statistically meaningful" deviations from the state average in the region that was studied, except for babies too small for their gestational age and for infant deaths.

"Although the statistical differences between the TriCounty area and the state are minimal when it comes to adverse health outcomes, there are obviously patterns that raise some concerns for public health locally," said TriCounty Health Department Executive Director Jordan Mathis. "It is important that we take measures to better understand these patterns through continued monitoring and evaluation."

Controlling risk factors

Mathis said some of the risk factors can be controlled.

"From the literature review, we found that air pollution is one factor that can result in adverse birth outcomes, but it's not the most important one," said Sam LeFevre, the health department's Environmental Epidemiology Program manager. "Any factor that contributes to fetal nutrition ought to be looked at."

The region that was studied also has consistently higher rates of teen births, smoking, and a higher number of individuals who lack access to health care, including proper prenatal care, according to the report. Diabetes and obesity are also a prominent problem in the region.

Read More:

Tri-County Adverse Birth Outcomes Statistical Review

Click on the link above to read the adverse birth outcomes report in its entirety.

LeFevre said that health departments throughout the state are already working to tackle obesity and smoking rates, and if they can be effective, "surely that would make a dent in adverse birth outcomes."

He recommends that the TriCounty Health Department look at "what they can do for pregnant women now," including utilizing all available resources and programs that can benefit healthy birth outcomes.

Tubbs said the local health board will continue to focus on the statewide Baby Your Baby and Women, Infants and Children programs, as well as its own Tobacco Free: Baby and Me smoking cessation program for pregnant women. But it will hold another public meeting to give the public an opportunity to ask questions about the results of the statistical review.

The local department will also request a follow-up review in two years, to see if the higher rates persist.

"We don't want to let it go for too long if there is a problem," Tubbs said.

The state's full report is available online, at health.utah.gov/enviroepi/appletree/TriCountyABO/.

Other areas of concern

LeFevre said there are other areas in the state that perhaps warrant more concern.

He pointed to Wasatch, Kane and Piute counties, where infant mortality rates are notably high. But LeFevre said that statistics are sometimes faulty when dealing with such small populations.

Young knows the problem isn't likely isolated to her community and she doesn't blame the oil industry specifically, but said the problem could also lie someplace else in the environment. She said that because of a growing interest in the region, "a lot of things are different than they used to be."

She blames the environment.

At the end of 2013, there were 11,110 active oil and gas wells in the study area, according to the state's review. Those wells produced more than 27 million barrels of crude oil and more than 300 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The TriCounty area produces about 80 percent of the state's oil and gas and is worth over $3 billion.

"It's not supposed to be my job to figure it out," Young said. "There is somebody out there who knows what is going on." Finding a solution, she said, "doesn't have to harm anybody's economy … just make sure everything is safe for the people."

"I want them to take it more seriously," she said. "I don't think they've done their job. I think this is window dressing."

Young helped to deliver a stillborn baby in May 2013 and said it was the first and only loss she's had in 20 years of delivering babies. She later counted obituaries and death certificates of 30 babies who died between 2010 and 2014 and said she will continue to fight, to get answers of why it happened so frequently in that five-year period.

"Even if I retire, I still owe it to my clientele to find out what is going on so they can go on having healthy babies whether I'm the one catching them or not," Young said.

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