During National Infant Mortality Awareness Month in September, 25 trained infant mortality advocates spread across the Jacksonville zip codes with the highest infant death rates to provide education and facilitate conversations about how to improve birth outcomes.

As part of a Make a Noise! Make a Difference! social marketing campaign funded by the Kids Hope Alliance/City of Jacksonville, the advocates were trained using the “Make a Noise! Make a Difference! Prevent Infant Mortality” curriculum. The curriculum was designed for community residents (lay health advocates) who want to know the facts about infant mortality and share the information with family, friends, co-workers and other community residents.

Throughout the month of September, approximately 7,000 flyers, 5000 rack cards and 300 posters on preventing infant mortality were distributed to businesses and individuals in zip codes 32208, 32209 and 32210. Additional educational materials on topics like COVID-19, premature birth, fatherhood, safe sex and more were distributed. The advocates also shared information virtually on social media.

The overall marketing campaign utilized a diverse approach of media and community engagement. Tools utilized were selected for implementation to meet target audiences in spaces of frequency, including social media, broadcast media, print and earned media. The first phase of the campaign, which concluded in September 2021, had a reach of:

• More than 360,000 people were reached during the social media campaign
• More than 6,000,000 earned media impressions
• More than 8,000 reached during virtual Lead Her panel on Facebook during Black Maternal Health Week