Our Stories

A Creative Tack in the Fight Against Infant Mortality

Cincinnati, and surrounding Hamilton County, have a distressingly high infant mortality rate. In a push to lower it and educate residents about pre- and post-natal health, Cradle Cincinnati, a LISC partner, has teamed up with a theater group to work with low-income parents. Through drama exercises and discussions, and free childcare and lunch, the program is a powerful, grassroots means to empowering young parents to take the reins of their babies’ health.

The excerpt below is from:
Can theater help fight Cincinnati’s infant mortality rate?
by David Lyman, Cincinnati.com

What happens when theater professionals apply their skills to real-world people with real-world needs that have real-world consequences?

It's not a new question, but every time it happens, there are surprises. And, if we're lucky, changes. And, if we pay careful attention, some empathy and joy and understanding.

Soon, Cincinnati might get to see what that looks like.

But let's start at the beginning with the real-world need.

“We lose about 100 babies a year,” says Ryan Mulligan, special projects manager of Cradle Cincinnati. “That’s five kindergarten classes.”

Think about that for a moment. One hundred grief-stricken families. Heartbroken parents. Distraught siblings. Grandparents. Friends. The emotional ripples are unfathomable.

And that’s just Hamilton County.

Cradle Cincinnati was created in 2013 to wage a frontline battle against infant mortality. At the time, the city had a shockingly high number of children who didn’t make it to their first birthday. Working in conjunction with many other groups, Cradle Cincinnati has had some success. The number of infant deaths in the period from 2012 to 2016 was 16 percent lower than in the previous five years. Continued[+]...