The state’s findings, after all, seem to clash with another analysis released last month from collegiate researchers outside Michigan that concluded there were higher numbers of fetal deaths during that time.
“No one is saying that lead is not a health threat, that it doesn’t cause adverse pregnancy outcomes,” Edwards said in an interview.
Among black, non-Hispanic babies during the period after the water switch, there was a small increase in the rate for stillbirth, preterm birth and low birth weight overall.
Minicuci said MDHHS asked a Michigan State expert to review the Kansas study.
Ivory Gipson, 45, said she worries for the babies, past and present, even as officials have said lead levels in Flint’s tap water have fallen back down to what is found in other cities.