Columbus Now Says 'Smart' Rides for Vulnerable Moms Are Coming

Columbus, Ohio, has one of the highest rates of babies dying before their first birthdays in the country. But many folks don’t know that this infant mortality crisis exists; with its growing workforce of younger, well-educated residents, the Midwest city has a reputation for livability, and it tends to do well on national rankings of best places to live.

“For the longest time, we were on our own,” Twinkle Schottke, the executive director of Moms2B, a nonprofit that runs support meetings for pregnant women in underserved neighborhoods where infant deaths are concentrated, told me in October. Now, there’s a new, small, glimmer of hope that help may be on the way: City officials will further develop a pilot for a specialized transportation service that would help connect expectant moms to healthcare. This news comes weeks after an extensive CityLab report spotlighted a waning commitment to address the city's infant mortality rate using a high-profile grant.