StartStrong: Innovative Program Helping to Reduce Infant Deaths in Avondale

StartStrong launched in 2013 with a deceptively simple goal: To help more babies born in Avondale live until their first birthdays.

Before StartStrong, Avondale had infant mortality rates that were among the worst in Hamilton County and the nation as a whole, with 21 deaths for every 1,000 live births among the neighborhood's moms. The single biggest cause of those infant deaths was “extreme preterm birth,” with babies born before growing for at least 28 weeks in their mothers’ wombs.

The health care and community service providers that came together for StartStrong wanted to improve those odds in the neighborhood that’s home to some of the region’s best hospitals and medical centers.

Read more here.