Safe sleep efforts get boost from Kids Hope Alliance

A new social marketing effort is underway thanks to support from the Kids Hope Alliance (KHA), a funding agent for the city of Jacksonville. Over the past five years (2018-2022), nearly 16 percent of infant deaths in Duval County were caused by sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs), most of which were sleep-related. Research shows that suffocation and strangulation, often associated with bedsharing, are the contributing factors. NEFHSC recently led safe sleep training with nearly 200 people representing Head Start and educational centers across Jacksonville. We’ll be further expanding our safe sleep training offerings while bolstering our community outreach and advertising efforts to help spread awareness about the ABCs (alone, back, crib) of safe sleep.

The Magnolia Project’s 25-year journey exploring the life course

Since 1999, the Magnolia Project has worked to reduce infant mortality by improving the health of at-risk women before and between pregnancy. This approach was adopted in response to the Perinatal Periods of Risk analyses and findings from the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review that demonstrated the impact of pre- and interconceptional health on poor birth outcomes, particularly for Black mothers.

The Magnolia Project utilizes a life course approach with a strong focus on social equity and the social determinants of health¹. Individual and group interventions are used to address risks and build the reproductive health capital of the community served by the project.  According to Lu et al. (2010), the life course perspective conceptualizes birth outcomes as the end product of not only the nine months of pregnancy but the entire life course of the mother before pregnancy. As a result, disparities in birth outcomes are the consequences of both differential exposures during pregnancy and differential developmental trajectories across the life span, including adolescence. As a major component of the life course, the Magnolia Project and other NEFHSC programs focus on the effects of stress, particularly what’s known as toxic stress. This body of work has been occurring for 25 years and it’s encouraging to see other groups now engaging in this important work.    

Community service awards honor servant leaders

Our board of directors recently recognized Sol Wynter (pictured, left) and Evelyn Monroe (pictured, right) with the NEFHSC’s highest honors: the 2024 Carol Brady Community Leadership Award and the Dorothy Wilson Mabry Legacy Award, respectively. Both Wynter and Monroe serve as advocates for healthy birth outcomes and work closely with our agency and other community organizations to improve the lives of Jacksonville families. The awards, given annually by the NEFHSC Board of Directors, recognize outstanding efforts and commitment of community leaders who devote their time, resources and expertise to advancing maternal and child health in Northeast Florida.

New mobile pantry providing essential supplies to Duval County Families

The Hey, Mama Mobile Pantry is now making appearances in several areas of Jacksonville to provide baby supplies, self-care products, health and nutrition education, and other items to Duval County families.

Funded by the City of Jacksonville, the mobile pantry is a nine-passenger van equipped with diapers and wipes, formula, baby food, men’s and women’s toiletries and pregnancy tests. Many of these supplies were donated by the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association and Nemours Children’s Health. A health educator and nursing students will be on board, as well as Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition staff members who will administer postpartum depression screenings and provide referrals for community resources including housing, rental assistance, well-baby care and stress management.

Driving Enrollment In Local Programs Focus of “Hey, Mama”

The Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition (NEHFSC) is relaunching it’s “Hey, Mama” social marketing campaign, an effort funded by the Kids Hope Alliance that seeks to encourage pregnant women and new mothers, as well as their spouses/partners and parents, to enroll in community programs and services designed to give their babies the healthiest start possible in life. Last year’s campaign doubled the number of people seeking more information about the NEFHSC.