TITLE
Title
PROCLAIM SEPTEMBER 2025 AS NATIONAL INFANT MORTALITY AWARENESS MONTH
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Vice Chairwoman Carlvena Foster
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PROCLAMATION
Proclamation
WHEREAS, maternal and infant health outcomes are key indicators for gauging the overall health and well-being of a community; and
WHEREAS, the death of a baby before his or her first birthday is called infant mortality and the infant mortality rate is an estimate of the number of infant deaths for every 1,000 live births; and
WHEREAS, according to the State Center for Health Statistics, Guilford County is one of the leading counties in the state for high infant mortality rates with 53 infant who died in 2023, at a rate of 9.2 per 1,000 births; and
WHEREAS, based on those 2023 statistics, out of the 53 infants who died in Guilford County, 37 were Black infants; 6 were Hispanic; 6 were Asian, Native American, or mixed race; and 4 were White. Minority infants make up 92% of infant deaths. For every one (1) white infant that dies in Guilford County, nine (9) black infants die; and
WHEREAS, the Guilford County Division of Public Health's Every Baby Guilford Program is acknowledging September 2025 as Infant Mortality Awareness Month by continuing to implement a collective action strategy to fix these long-standing disparities in infant and maternal health; and
WHEREAS, we are collectively working to ensure all babies in Guilford County are born healthy and live to celebrate their first birthday.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners do hereby proclaim September 2025 as National Infant Mortality Month and encourages all Guilford County residents to take steps to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of their families by making healthy personal lifestyle choices, seeking regular preventative health care and logging on to www.guilfordcountync.gov for information and suggestions for maintain and improving health.
ADOPTED this the 4th day of Septe...
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