Upcoming: A Healthy Baby Begins With You

The documentary film, “Crisis in the Crib: Saving Our Nation’s Babies,” will be shown from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at Hendricks Chapel, on the Syracuse University campus. A reception with the film’s creator Tonya Lewis Lee will begin at 2:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

In Syracuse and in the United States overall, African-American infants die at twice the rate of white infants. Lewis Lee, attorney, writer, producer and national spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s campaign, “A Healthy Baby Begins With You” will meet with the community to provide information on infant mortality in the African-American community and the resources available to reduce this occurrence in Syracuse.

In the 1990s, Syracuse’s infant mortality rate was the highest in the country for a mid-sized city. During the past 13 years, Syracuse Healthy Start has been instrumental in reducing the overall infant mortality rate by half. However, the disparity between white infant deaths and black infant deaths persists today.

Parking for the event is available free of charge at Syracuse University’s Irving Garage.  Hendrick’s Chapel is accessible from Centro Bus Routes number 443 and 543 (Connective Corridor Shuttle).  More information and a parking map are available at www.reachcny.org

Syracuse Healthy Start, a federally-funded program of the Onondaga County Health Department, promotes healthy pregnancies and healthy babies through community partnerships, referrals, education and case management. Syracuse Healthy Start’s Consortium is a forum that brings together health care providers, human service workers and consumers to discuss and advise on program efforts.

The NYS Center for SID, funded through the New York State Department of Health, is a statewide program which provides support for bereaved families and coordinates educational and public awareness programs about measures to reduce the risk for SIDS and other causes of infant and child mortality.

REACH CNY works to ensure access and support for the full range of quality, culturally sensitive health and human services to reduce teen pregnancies, improve maternal child health, and promote the health and well-being of individuals through education and advocacy.

Lewis Lee’s visit to Syracuse will be hosted by the Syracuse Healthy Start Consortium, the CNY Office of the NYS Center for Sudden Infant Death and REACH CNY.  Generous support for Ms. Lewis Lee’s visit has been provided by the CNY Community Foundation, the Community Folk Art Center, Syracuse Area Black Nurses Association, Inc., the CNY Perinatal and Infant Bereavement Network, Vera House and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Iota Nu Omega Chapter.