Why a Community Baby Shower?
Memphis has the highest infant mortality rate
among the nation's 60 largest cities. Babies
deaths in Memphis are double that of the
average rate of the national. An infant dies in
Shelby County every 43 hours.
In 2002, 202 babies didn't see their first
birthday. Think about that. That is enough
babies to fill 10 kindergarten classrooms. By
comparison, there were 122 homicide victims
in the city and county last year. Several
Memphis ZIP codes have infant death rates higher than scores of Third World
countries. North Memphis' 38108, which include the tattered communities of
Douglass and Hollywood, are deadlier for babies than Vietnam, El Salvador and
Iran. Infant mortality is the barometer of a community's problems:
poverty,
pollution,
crime,
lack of education,
access to health care and
safe, affordable housing.
Although,
Black
mothers
nationwide are more than twice
as likely to lose a child before
age 1 than other women, Fresh
Starts Community Baby Shower
targets
all
races
and
backgrounds in the City of
Memphis that are at risk of losing
children prematurely. Memphis'
infant death rate is higher than
New York City and Dallas combined.
The issue had largely been below the radar of local political and community
leaders, leaving the medical community and health department to bear the burden.
In Memphis, the nation's infant death capital for at least a decade, efforts to
confront these problems have been small and splintered. Only recently has there
has been a comprehensive effort to curb the problem. However, programs have
come and gone as funding has come and gone.
2