The B.A.B.E. store in the Forest Manor Community Health Center is one of four stores in Indianapolis where women can redeem coupons received at prenatal visits for items for children from newborn to age 5. It is an incentive to persuade women to have regular prenatal care, which decreases prematurity and infant mortality rates.
Too many Hoosier babies are being mourned at funerals instead of being celebrated on their first birthdays, prompting a new statewide initiative aimed at eliminating infant mortality.
Indiana's infant mortality rate - the number of children who die before their first birthday - is 25 percent higher than the national average. According to the updated Kids Count in Indiana Data Book, in 2011 the number of babies who died in the first year of life was 643, similar to the number of students in two elementary schools.
In terms of percentages, 7.6 of every 1,000 babies died before turning 1 year old. ...