To continue to raise awareness during National Infant Mortality Prevention Month, the Magnolia Project Outreach Team conducted an annual Chat and Chew in the community.

The outreach team visited several housing complexes and the Azalea Project, engaging 22 participants by reviewing the Infant Mortality Fact Sheet and playing the Rock a Bye Babies Game. The object of the game was to show the participants what risk factors contribute to infant mortality, the possible outcome and things that can be done to help prevent infant mortality. During the game participants were provided baby-dolls and pulled script tips from the Rock A Bye Babies Life Choices Container and read the tip out loud.

If participants received tips like smoking cigarettes, no prenatal care or drinking alcohol while pregnant, their baby died. If they pulled a positive tip like early prenatal care, eating healthy or taking prenatal vitamins, their baby lived.

The participants were engaged and the game opened up a substantial amount of dialogue about infant mortality. After much discussion and reading more tips, the participants engaged in a questions and answer session to test infant mortality knowledge gained. The person who gave the correct answer won a bottle of Magnolia daily multivitamins.