Infant mortality fought

It's a fact of life that, sometimes, babies die.

But infant mortality can be prevented, says one woman who devotes much of her time to educating the public on that topic.

"Infant mortality is counting the number of babies who die before their first birthday," says Marilyn Vines, a volunteer spokeswoman for Birthing Project USA. "It's a big problem in this country."

On an average day in the United States, 78 babies die before their first birthday, according to the March of Dimes.

Vines, who is employed by Revlon in New York City, is in Las Vegas until today, working with a salon in West Las Vegas. She is using some of her time to promote Birthing Project USA to get the word out about infant mortality in hopes of starting a local chapter.

The project is a national nonprofit organization that helps lower the infant-mortality rate through free prenatal care, postnatal parenting skills and emotional support.

While Nevada's infant mortality rate declined 33 percent from 1985 to 1995, according to "Nevada Kids Count," a statewide survey, Vines says the numbers are deceiving.

"In Nevada, infant mortality for white women is 6.37 babies per 1,000 live births," she said. "For African-American women, it's 17.07; for Native Americans, it's 15.74; and Asians and Hispanics are both five.

"Everywhere in America, the numbers say infant mortality is at an all-time low. But when you start to break it into ethnic groups, African-Americans still have babies die 2-to-1 over other groups."

Studies show the reasons for this discrepancy are stress-related, which keeps pregnant women from taking care of themselves, Vines says.

This is where Birthing Project USA comes in, Vines says. Pregnant women are matched for 18 months with a volunteer known as a sister-friend. The sister-friend spends about three to four hours a week making sure the expectant mother gets prenatal care and helping her resolve issues that cause stress in her life. Since the project was founded in 1988, more than 5,000 healthy babies have been born to mothers in the program.

That success is proof that the project is doing something right, Vines says. "I think people know that babies die, but they don't know why. We found out infant mortality is preventable, and we can do something about it."

Vines believes that the country needs this project to help combat an often overlooked problem.

"If we can save a baby just by helping the mother understand all the ways to be healthy, then we've got to do it," Vines said. "I'm lucky to get to talk to people and get them to know what's going on in their communities and that they can make a difference by volunteering."

People who want to get involved with the project can call (888) 657-9790 for more information.

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