A staggering number of infants born in the Missouri Bootheel are not living to celebrate their first birthday and the Bootheel Babies & Families organization is working to lower this record setting number of infant deaths.
Over the past eight years, 135 babies have died in Dunklin, New Madrid, Mississippi, Pemiscot, Stoddard and Scott Counties, where the infant mortality rate ranges as high as 11.7 deaths per 1,000.
"When compared with Missouri's average infant mortality rate of 6.5 deaths (per 1,000), or the national rate of 5.9 deaths (per 1,000), this is truly devastating for the Bootheel," Project Management Coordinator for Bootheel Babies & Families Robert Turner said.
BBF is working to educate and make the Bootheel aware of what is happening in the area.
"We are educating people on safe sleep practices," Chairwoman of the BBF Steering Committee Sarah Ezell said.
She recommends the ABC's of safe sleep as the best method to keep infants safe: Baby sleeping (A) alone, on the (B) back and in a (C) crib.
The crib should have a firm mattress with a tightly fitted sheet. Avoid blankets, crib bumpers, pillows and stuffed toys. As pretty as they make the crib look, all items represent suffocation hazards to babies under the age of one year.
According to Turner, about half of the infant deaths in the Bootheel in 2016 are attributable to unsafe sleep habits such as bed sharing and suffocation.
"Our approach to combatting infant mortality in the Bootheel has been unique," Ezell said. "This isn't one non-profit or one community organization committed to a cause, it's multiple, along with individuals who are passionate about decreasing infant mortality, all collaborating to make a true difference."
Turner added infant mortality is a complex issue and said the group knows other issues can be a factor as well.
"We know that similar to other areas, safe sleep issues, pre and post natal care, drug abuse and misuse in the home, institutional racism, poverty, toxic stress, a lesser amount of resources and a lack of access to adequate health care all tie into the issue and help shape the infant mortality rate," he said.
BBF is led by a Steering Committee made up of community stakeholders, partner organizations, medical professionals, educators, parents, caregivers and others committed to reducing the Bootheel's infant mortality rate. The Steering Committee meets monthly to collaborate on outreach efforts.
This initiative is funded and supported by Missouri Foundation for Health working in coordination with BNHI and MBRC.
"Bootheel Babies & Families is a community voice driven initiative that uses its resources to coordinate activities and forward a common agenda that attempts to reduce the region's infant mortality rate by 15 percent by 2022," Turner said.