Kalamazoo’s babies of color DIE 4x MORE than white babies
About Us
Cradle Kalamazoo, formerly known as the Kalamazoo Infant Mortality Community Action Initiative (KIMCAI), is a multi-agency community initiative led by YWCA Kalamazoo. This initiative is based on the work of many community members and organizations, including Dr. Arthur James who brought attention to and began working on the racial disparities in infant mortality in 1992. By bringing together community leaders and organizations to implement evidence-based and holistic interventions, our goal is to reduce infant death and promote respect for families, women and their children.
The death of a baby before their first birthday is called infant mortality. The infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths that occur for every 1,000 live births. Infant mortality affects all of us because we are all a part of this community. This rate is often used as an indicator to measure the health and well-being of a community. The factors affecting the health of entire populations can also impact the death of infants. Kalamazoo has an alarmingly high infant mortality rate for babies of color. This is not who we are as a community, and we have everything we need to improve the lives of all Kalamazoo babies.
The Kalamazoo County infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the State of Michigan. While the overall infant mortality rate has decreased in the last 30 years, the disparity among babies of color and white babies has increased. In Kalamazoo, babies of color are four times more likely to die before their first birthday than their white neighbors. Cradle Kalamazoo’s mission is to get the support to those who need it the most. We work with women and families that are at high risk due to economic factors, previous adverse birth outcomes, and/or race.
Our Vision: Reduce the infant mortality rate among babies of color in Kalamazoo to 6.0 (per 1,000 live births) by 2020.
Goals
Cradle Kalamazoo’s goal is to reduce infant death and promote respect for families, women and their children. We plan on doing this by:
- Ensuring health equity of programs, policies, and providers
- Building a perinatal home visitation network
- Promoting and educating about infant safe-sleep programs
- Providing reproductive health education and support
Partners
Aetna Better Health
Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
Borgess Health
Bronson Healthcare
Catholic Charities Diocese of Kalamazoo – Caring Network
Douglass Community Association
Eliminating Racism Creating/Celebrating Equity (ERACCE)
Elizabeth Upjohn Community Healing Center
Family Health Center
Gryphon Place
Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy and Action in the Community (ISAAC)
Kalamazoo Community Foundation
Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
Kalamazoo County Department of Health and Human Services
Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services
Kalamazoo Regional Educational Services Agency (KRESA)
The Links, Inc.
McLaren Health Plan
Meridian Health Plan
Molina Health Plan
NAACP – Metropolitan Kalamazoo Branch
Northside Ministerial Alliance
Planned Parenthood of Michigan
Priority Health Choice
Rootead
St. Luke’s Diaper Bank
Savior’s Home Healthcare
Seeds for Success
Twenty Hands
United Healthcare Community Plan
United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region
Western Michigan University Department of Psychology
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
YWCA Kalamazoo
Funders
Thank you to our funders! Without them, the work of Cradle Kalamazoo wouldn’t be possible.
Irving S. Gilmore Foundation
Kalamazoo County Health Plan
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Health Disparities Reduction and Minority Health Section (HDRMHS)
Michigan Health Endowment Fund
United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region
Research
Through continuous data collection and evaluation of key indicators by Cradle Kalamazoo partners, together we strive to identify and assist at risk pregnancies and infants in Kalamazoo County. This information will guide us in updating and evolving programs to better serve our community.
Here is some of the research Cradle Kalamazoo is using to support our work —
Cathy Kothari, PhD with the support of Kalamazoo County Healthy Babies Healthy Start, performed an Infant Mortality Trend Analysis. In this study, Dr. Kothari found:
- In Kalamazoo, babies of color are 4x more likely to die before their first birthday than their white neighbors.
- Babies of color are affected across income. Babies of color from higher income families are twice as likely to die before their first birthday than their lower income white neighbors.
- Although infant mortality is high among all infants of color, the reasons infants die varies based on their family’s income. Many lower-income infants of color are dying from sleep-related causes and higher income infants of color are dying largely due to prematurity.
- The race of the infant affects infant mortality risk more than their family’s socioeconomic status.
- Most infant deaths are preventable. Through specialized interventions, racial disparities in infant death can be reduced and eventually eliminated.
