On Thursday, Nov. 30, FLOURISH St. Louis hosted its Launch Event to get community members and regional leaders involved in improving the health of babies in St. Louis. The 120 attendees came to learn about infant mortality in St. Louis and how they can help.
“In spite of our region’s outstanding medical facilities and our best intentions, babies are dying in some St. Louis neighborhoods at rates three times worse than the national average,” said Jill Thompson, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Generate Health – the backbone organization for FLOURISH St. Louis. “There also are huge gaps in the health of babies in our region. Black babies in St. Louis are three time more likely to die than white babies. This gap is so deep, that if we keep doing what we have always done, it could take almost 50 years for the survival rates of black babies to catch up with those of white babies.”
Attendees heard about the impact infant mortality and premature birth, the leading cause of infant mortality in our region, have on families and our region as a whole.
“Every baby’s death robs all of us of his or her potential contributions to our society. And, each neighbor, family member of friend who loses a baby faces enormous emotional suffering. We also know that, in our region, premature birth causes more infant deaths than accidents, genetic problems and all other causes combined. The babies who survive premature birth sometimes spend months hospitalized. Instead of taking home a healthy newborn, families are faced with the new reality of having to provide long-term, specialized care for their child,” said Thompson. “Those of us who haven’t suffered the loss of a child or had to care for a premature baby with major health concerns can only try to imagine the families’ heartbreak, grief and stress. But this loss impacts the rest of us, too. It hurts the entire community. The devastating social impacts are paired with financial strains on our community. We’ve long known that the medical costs of caring for an infant born prematurely are extremely high. Each year, premature births cost Missouri taxpayers $180 million in immediate and short-term costs. Imagine what our region could do with $180 million.”
Before announcing FLOURISH St. Louis’ five priority areas, Thompson explained how the FLOURISH St. Louis cabinet came to pick those areas.
“We began by speaking with the ultimate experts on this issue, families who are raising a premature baby, or have lived through the loss of a baby. We conducted community listening sessions with 350 family members to hear their stories and understand the barriers they face. Then we looked at the research data and medical opinions surrounding premature births and infant deaths in St. Louis. What we found is that there are barriers that make it hard for families to get they care needed.”
Taking family input and research into account, the FLOURISH St. Louis cabinet identified five priority areas that we are now forming Action Teams around.
- Prenatal Care: This Action Team will identify solutions to grow the use of health services during pregnancy to increase healthy and full-term births. Learn more.
- Infant Health: This Action Team will identify solutions to reduce the number of sleep-related, as well as sudden and unexplained, infant deaths in St. Louis. Learn more.
- Health Communication and Navigation: This Action Team will coordinate ways to increase community members’ connection and access to resources that support the health of moms and babies. Learn more.
- Transportation: This Action Team will work with transportation organizations to help families get easier access to healthcare and social support services. Learn more.
- Behavioral Health: This Action Team will work with local organizations to increase access to mental health and substance use services for pregnant and new moms. Learn more.
At the end of the event, we invited attendees to walk through our gallery of images, quotes from parents and infographics to help them better understand each of the five priority areas. We also encouraged them to make commitments to help this movement – everything from agreeing to write a Letter of Love to joining an Action Team and asking their organization to incorporate the five priority areas in their own organizational plans. Together, attendees linked arms as they made commitments to create a circle of connection that shows our region is united in helping babies thrive and families flourish.
You too can join the cause! We understand that volunteering for an Action Team may not be possible for everyone. If you aren’t able to commit as a volunteer, we hope you will consider one of the other ways to get involved on our How You Can Help page.
Even the smallest actions contribute to creating a movement that will cause positive, effective action in St. Louis to support the health and well-being of our region’s babies.
If you’d like to view a video of the Launch Event presentation, visit our YouTube Channel.
