GOL, ADPH Hold Joint News Conference to Promote Infant Mortality Awareness Month

September is National Infant Mortality Month and Gift of Life Foundation in partnership with the Alabama Department of Public Health held a joint news conference on September  12, 2017 to announce September as Infant Mortality Awareness Month.  

Last year in the state of Alabama nearly 500 babies never had the opportunity to celebrate their first birthday. The majority of those babies were African American, many were born in poverty, and others were born in an environment where they may not have received prenatal care early enough, or where their parents did not have the education or support that they needed to be healthy and survive.

Dr. Janice Smiley, director of the Perinatal Health Division, Alabama Department of Public Health, and Gift of Life Executive Director Cheryl Davis discussed why there is an increase in the number of infant deaths in Montgomery and other regions across the state and what the community can do to help reduce infant mortality. The event was held at the RSA Park, where Gift of Life and ADPH staff planted pinwheels representing the 494 babies in Alabama who never reached their first birthday.