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 losttheir daughter Rebecca Ava Rabinowitz when she was nine days old as aresult of a viral infection that was not diagnosed or treated. The aimof R Baby is to organizeand fund efforts to improve the outcomes of medical care for infants,particularly those who contract certain viral infections. R Baby isdedicated to helping newborn babies, primarily in their first month,with often misunderstood viral infections and other infectiousdiseases, receive the highest quality of care and service throughsupporting education, research, treatment, training, and life-savingequipment.
"The infant mortality rate in the U.S. remains extremely high — higherthan in a number of nations in the developing world. R Baby is focusedon providing access to appropriate pediatric evaluation and emergencycare, upgrades to equipment, and more adequate training. We believethat these efforts will make a real difference in reducing mortalityrates," said Andrew Rabinowitz, co-president of R Baby. "Our goal is toreduce the infant mortality rate in the U.S. by more than half in thenext five years."
On May 15, 2007, the foundation held its first major fundraising eventat the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City. The theme of the nightwas “The Best Things in Life Come in Small Packages,” and thisexciting, worthy event included a cocktail party, silent and liveauctions, 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.
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 usepromo code "RBaby" for 15% off all purchases on the site.
