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How Avondale Improved Its Infant Mortality Rate

cincinnati edition
Provided/Bethesda, Inc., bi3
The StartStrong program is credited for the decline in premature births and infant mortality in the neighborhood of Avondale.

In 2013, Bethesda Inc.'s grant-making initiative, bi3, awarded a $3.2 million, three-year grant to a first-ever collaboration between Every Child Succeeds, Cincinnati Children’s and TriHealth to tackle infant mortality rates in Hamilton County – one of the highest in the country.   

The resulting program, StartStrong, developed a unique mom-centered approach that has proven effective in Avondale, which, before the initiative, had one of the worst infant mortality rates in the county.   

Today, community health leaders credit StartStrong for an infant mortality rate decline of 59-percent in the neighborhood.   

Joining "Cincinnati Edition" to discuss how StartStrong has reduced infant mortality in Hamilton county are President of Bethesda Inc., Jill Miller; TriHealth Director for Quality Maternity Services Dr. Michael Marcott; and Cradle Cincinnati Executive Director Ryan Adcock.

Tune into "Cincinnati Edition" June  14 starting at 1 p.m. to hear this segment.