On Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 from 9 a.m. to noon, Representative Tracie Davis (D-Jacksonville) will partner with Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition’s The Magnolia Project and Healthy Start programs to host the sixth annual community baby shower for expectant and new mothers at Magnolia Project East, 6024 Merrill Road Jacksonville, Florida 32277.
The baby shower is a FREE drive-thru and walk up event that aims to provide mothers with the tools they need to raise happy and healthy infants as well as increase awareness for the high infant mortality numbers we experience locally. Infant mortality is the death of an infant before his or her first birthday, and is an indicator of a community’s health. In 2019, 136 infants died before their first birthday. In 2020, Jacksonville’s infant mortality rate was 7.8; this number is higher than both the state rate, 5.8, and the national rate, 5.6.
“Bringing our community together to provide our new and expectant mothers with the tools they need to care for their newborn is invaluable,” said Representative Davis. “For the sixth year in a row, it has been my pleasure to surround these families with the love, education, and encouragement that is key to establishing a solid foundation and bright future for all of our children.”
This marks the sixth year of partnership with Representative Davis and the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing infant death and improving the health of pregnant women, babies, fathers and their families.