Perinatal Periods of Risk (PPOR)—This is a community planning tool to help better understand and address the local fetal and infant death problem. PPOR is the collection and analysis of data that can be used by programs, initiatives, agencies and policy makers to refine or develop strategies, projects or policies in order to reduce feto-infant mortality and improve the health of all women and infants. The Office of Assessment and Surveillance is leading the analytic portion, and the department's Maternal and Child Health Division is leading the community engagement portion of this approach.

The analysis has two phases. In the first phase, infant and fetal deaths within a population are grouped by categories of birthweight and age at death. Categories with the highest number of deaths and rates of mortality are identified. These deaths are further analyzed in the second phase. Each group of interest is compared to a reference group, which is the group having the best outcomes. The factors contributing the most to any identified disparity are then targeted for intervention. In Columbus and Franklin County, these have been found to be access to prenatal care, tobacco use, and safe sleep environments for babies. For more information, please visit: www.citymatch.org