Community Baby Shower

Since 2012, The Children’s Mercy Community Baby Shower program has partnered with Kansas City’s Black Health Care Coalition to host three events each year to celebrate and support expanding families with interactive learning opportunities and material resources. The program has now expanded to include multiple community partners like Operation Breakthrough, Urban Community Connections, the KC Indian Resource Center, and others. This is one component of the health system’s ongoing effort to address both maternal and infant health outcomes, which are areas of concern identified in the Children’s Mercy Community Health Needs Assessment.

In 2024, the infant mortality rate in the United States was 5.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, while in Kansas City alone it was 5.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is a 9.2% decrease from the year prior. Infant mortality is the death of an infant before their first birthday and is an important marker of the overall health of a community, as the largest number of infant deaths in Kansas City were due to premature birth. The Community Baby Shower program at Children’s Mercy is committed to continued expansion until at least 1000 families in the Kansas City Metro are celebrated and supported each year.

For additional information about the Children's Mercy Community Baby Shower program, please contact jrjohnson2@cmh.edu.