• April 2006 – Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton, Jr., concerned about infant mortality rates in Shelby County, hosted a local ‘call to action’ Infant Mortality Summit of key stakeholders in the community.
• From the Infant Mortality Summit the following recommendations emerged and to date all recommendations have been achieved.
  • A Core Leadership Group was formed comprised of key decision makers representing the fields of healthcare, academia, social services and government. The Core Leadership Group was formed to implement strategies devoted to increasing positive local birth outcomes in Shelby County.
  • Funding was provided for Memphis Health Loop Clinics providing OB/GYN services to replace all outdated medical equipment with state-of-the-art equipment.
  • Shelby County received Centering Pregnancy a clinic-based program where pregnant mothers receive their prenatal care in a group setting as a social network. Outcomes from this program have resulted in over 94% full term and healthy birth weight deliveries.
  • Shelby County received the Community Voice program, a grassroots community-based education program through the March of Dimes. Last year Community Voice trained over 500 Lay Health Advisors reaching over 6000 individuals in the community with information about healthy pregnancies and healthy lifestyle choices.
  • Funding and implementation of the Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR). Memphis/Shelby County Health Department staff, Shelby County Office of Early Childhood and Youth staff, health and social service experts will review fetal and infant deaths, and via the identification of related social, economic, cultural, safety, and health issues the Shelby County FIMR team will seek to understand the underlying causes of infant mortality and fetal death in an effort to reduce these rates in Shelby County.
• All Babies Count hosts “Community Crusades” in the most affected zip codes of Shelby County. Volunteers, community and health care partners canvass residential and commercial locations such as apartments, beauty shops, shopping centers, and laudromats to raise awareness about infant mortality and healthy lifestyle choices. Expectant mothers are also given information about pre-natal programs.

• In May, All Babies Count and then Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton joined Tonya Lewis Lee (wife of filmmaker Spike Lee), Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Tennessee Department of Health, and several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) for a one week event to raise awareness of infant mortality and preconception health. A documentary was filmed in Memphis highlighting the “A Healthy Baby Begins with You” campaign and local infant mortality reduction efforts.

• In September, along with Congressman Steve Cohen, Mayor A C Wharton and health professionals joined Tonya Lewis Lee (wife of filmmaker Spike Lee) at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. for the launch of “Crisis in the Crib,” a documentary filmed in Memphis highlighting local infant mortality reduction efforts.

• Youth from the Shelby County area participated in Project IMPACT (Infant Mortality Public Awareness Campaign for Tennessee), a youth messaging initiative supported by the Governor’s Office of Children’s Care Coordination (GOCCC) including over fifty middle and high schools students from Davidson, Hamilton counties, as well as Shelby County.

• All Babies Count was highlighted again at the Baby Expo, held at the AgriCenter on March 28, 2009. The proceeds went to the new World Overcomers’ Baby Store as chosen by the Core Leadership Group. The store will serve a dual purpose in the community.  First, the store will bring community health services to a section of the county with expressed commitment to the reduction of prematurity, low birth weight infants and infant mortality. The second purpose of the store will be to provide new infant items to women in need.  Initially, the store will serve the needs of women participating in the Healthy Start home visitation program, by providing them with infant and toddler items such as clothing, bedding, educational items, nutritional items of which they may be in need. 

• Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen joined Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton to announce establishment of a Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) team in Shelby County. The state provided funding for the start up of FIMR teams in Davidson, Hamilton and Shelby counties, as well as a 10-county region in East Tennessee, in an effort to increase fetal and infant survival rates among Tennessee babies. In Shelby County all FIMR staff has been hired and are aggressively working in the community to improve the local birth outcomes.

Infant Mortality Facts

WHAT IS INFANT MORTALITY?

Infant mortality is defined as the death of a baby before his or her first birthday.

WHY DOES INFANT MORTALITY MATTER?

• It reflects on access and quality care
• It is an indicator for a community’s overall health status
• It is a huge emotional cost to families
• It is costly to communities
• Preterm/low birth-weight babies can cost up to $1,000,000
• Healthy Full term babies cost $1,100

WHAT ARE THE LEADING CAUSES OF INFANT DEATH?

• Congenital malformations / 20%
• Premature birth and low birth weight / 17%
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) / 8%
• Maternal complications during pregnancy / 6%
• Accidents and unintentional injuries / 4%

WHAT ARE THE FACTORS INFLUENCING BIRTH OUTCOMES?

• Medical
• Lifestyle Choices
• Maternal Health
• Alcohol and Drug/Substance Use
• Birth Defects
• Poor Nutrition
• Disease (STD)
• Irregular Prenatal Care
• Infections
• Closely spaced pregnancies
• Psychological Stressors
• Poverty
• Racial Issues
• Domestic Violence