R Baby Foundation Founded to help Fight Infant Mortality

R Baby Foundation Founded to help Fight Infant Mortality
R Baby Foundation (www.rbabyfoundation.org) was established in 2006 by Phyllis and Andrew Rabinowitz, who lost their daughter Rebecca Ava Rabinowitz when she was nine days old as a result of a viral infection that was not diagnosed or treated. The aim of R Baby is to organize and fund efforts to improve the outcomes of medical care for infants, particularly those who contract certain viral infections. R Baby is dedicated to helping newborn babies, primarily in their first month, with often misunderstood viral infections and other infectious diseases, receive the highest quality of care and service through supporting education, research, treatment, training, and life-saving equipment.

"The infant mortality rate in the U.S. remains extremely high -- higher than in a number of nations in the developing world. R Baby is focused on providing access to appropriate pediatric evaluation and emergency care, upgrades to equipment, and more adequate training. We believe that these efforts will make a real difference in reducing mortality rates," said Andrew Rabinowitz, co-president of R Baby. "Our goal is to reduce the infant mortality rate in the U.S. by more than half in the next five years."

On May 15, 2007, the foundation held its first major fundraising event at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City. The theme of the night was “The Best Things in Life Come in Small Packages,” and this exciting, worthy event included a tail party, silent and live auctions, and dancing, as well as additional entertainment.

Special guests at the event included Kelly Ripa, Boomer Esiason, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and CW11 News at Ten weather expert Mr. G. Guests enjoyed musical performances by two Grammy-nominated artists: Staind frontman Aaron Lewis and Chris Barron of the Spin Doctors.

FACTS ON INFANT MORTALITY
Following are some facts on the disproportionately high rate of infant mortality in the United States:

  • Babies born in the U.S. are twice as likely to die than those born in     many other developed countries, including Sweden, Japan and Spain; the U.S.     is ranked 36th among 196 nations.
  • 1 in 141 babies die in the U.S. each year. Babies within the first 28     days are twice as likely to die as older babies.
  • There are approximately 20,000 newborn deaths within their first month     of life and close to 30,000 in the first year.
  • HOW YOU CAN HELP
    R Baby has teamed up with www.uncommonlycute.com to sell both adult and kids t-shirts to show support for this important cause. To purchase a t-shirt, click here: www.uncommonlycute.com. 50% of all proceeds go directly to the R Baby Foundation.  Please use promo code "RBaby" for 15% off all purchases on the site.
Published 6/8/07 by


Celebrity Baby Blog

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