scientists

A new study published in The Lancet Public Health found that Rx Kids, the nation’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program, led to significant improvements in birth outcomes for infants born in Flint, Michigan. The program reduced low birthweight and preterm birth rates and prevented admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU.

The findings show that providing direct support during pregnancy and infancy can improve maternal and infant health. This is among the first population-level studies in the United States showing that direct economic support during pregnancy improves birth outcomes.

Before Rx Kids, low birthweight and preterm birth rates in Flint increased from 2021 to 2023. After the program began in 2024, those trends reversed. Compared to similar communities, Flint experienced meaningful declines in both outcomes.

Following the launch of Rx Kids, Flint saw an estimated 18% reduction in preterm births and a 27% reduction in low birthweight. These improvements contributed to a roughly 29% decrease in NICU admissions, generating millions in healthcare savings.

Members of the scientific community have been raising concerns about the paper since immediately after it was published. Top and other scientists wrote about some of its methodological issues within days of publication. In an email, Top said in the six years since then, the paper had been cited in other studies and used to justify changes to vaccine policy and undermine confidence in vaccines, “likely contributing to decreased vaccination rates and outbreaks of serious preventable infections, like measles and whooping cough”.

Top called for the publisher and editors to conduct a thorough review of the peer review process and their response to the previous complaints, and to commit to improving the timeliness of their response in future.