Why is infant mortality an issue I should care about?
- Infant mortality is often looked at as is the best indicator of a community’s health.
- In our region, too many babies die unnecessarily each year. One baby dying is too many, but, in the St. Louis region, the number of babies dying each year is equal to 15 kindergarten classrooms.
What is the Maternal, Child and Family Health Coalition doing about infant mortality?
- A new multi-year initiative aims to significantly reduce infant deaths by bringing together communities to address the complex problem of why babies are dying and how we can make improvements to the health and well-being of moms and babies.
- This initiative will engage and empower the community, encourage multi-sector collaboration, and employ measurable and evidenced-based strategies to protect and promote the well-being of families.
- The Maternal, Child and Family Health Coalition (MCFHC) will coordinate this initiative in the St. Louis region. The Missouri Foundation for Health is providing financial, technical and programmatic support.
In May, MCFHC convened a Leadership Council for six months to set the vision for the effort, design the framework for the initiative’s success in governance and community engagement, assess the community’s assets and needs, and serve as champions. It is anticipated that in the fourth quarter of 2014, additional committees will be convened. If you are interested in joining any of our current committees or new ones once they are formed, we would be happy to take your name and contact information to get back to you.
Ways you can help now:
- Attend Quarterly Coalition meetings
- Serve as a mentor
- Read to children
- Host a diaper drive
- Donate blood
- Host a baby shower
- Help canvass a neighborhood
- Pass out literature at an event about healthy women and babies
- Connect initiative leaders with other key leaders you know
- Sponsor a media spot
- Tweet key talking points from the initiative
- Volunteer at a food pantry
- Help create/maintain a Community Garden
- Volunteer with family and youth-serving organizations
Find an organization to volunteer:
501 Connect Non-Profit List – http://www.501connect.com/non-profit-organizations/nonprofit-list.php
United Way Funded Agencies – http://www.stl.unitedway.org/people-we-help/how-we-help/agencies-we-fund/
To learn more about the St. Louis effort, contact us at 314.289.5682
