Site Description
Cradle Cincinnati was formed in 2013 by a collaboration of partners determined to address and improve the heartrending infant mortality rate of Hamilton County. Recognizing that this issue is complex and intricately intertwined within a diversity of beliefs and social environments, they employ a model of "collective impact" in their undertaking of the matter. It is within this paradigm that the organization actively collaborates with widespread partners and the community as a whole to address the various aspects of this multifaceted issue. Calculated as the death of live-born babies before the age of one per 1,000 live births, the infant mortality rate for Hamilton County from 2013-2017 was 8.981. While this is a strong improvement from the previous 5 years (10.24), our community remains among the worst 10% in the country. The infant mortality rate is not only distressing because it represents the loss of a child in the community, but it also signifies the overall health of society. As such, it is clear to Cradle Cincinnati that there is still much to be done.
In June of 2018, Cradle Cincinnati released their new 5-year strategic plan for reducing preterm birth and infant mortality. Moving forward, the partners will be coming together to implement various methods to reach their 3 major goals over the next 5 years:
- Reduce the number of babies born before the end of the second trimester by 33% by 2023, bringing us to the national average.
- Eliminate sleep-related infant deaths in Hamilton County by 2023.
- Promote what we know about reducing birth defects and lead the way on new scientific discovery to better understand congenital anomalies.
Job Description
- Attend all Operations and all team meetings
- Complete assigned tasks in timely manner
- Follow-up and communicate with supervisor on all projects
- Attend and participate in the Learning Collaborative meetings
- Start work at expected time and communicate absences to supervisor
- Protect Cradle Cincinnati information and limit exposure
- Complete provided resources and educational materials regarding Mission of Cradle Cincinnati, current objectives, Infant mortality and safe sleep
- Perform research on changes to Safe Sleep recommendations and Infant mortality statistics
- Come up with ideas to engage students, healthcare professionals and community members
Intern Quote
“This summer, I had a lot of exposure to the organization of Cradle Cincinnati. I attended weekly team meetings with the whole organization, and attended meetings with different divisions and teams of Cradle Cincinnati, which allowed me to see all of the various ways the organization works, and allowed me to be as involved as I wanted to be depending on what interested me. I met with my supervisor weekly to recap my work, discuss goals and direction, and to check in on my project. My primary project was the Zip Code profiles I made on the priority zip codes in Cradle Cincinnati and their infant mortality, maternal health, socioeconomics, and health statistics. As I attended webinars, meetings, and spoke to people working at Cradle, more things caught my eye, and I became more involved in various projects with the organization. Spanning from event planning, to grant one pagers, to Reproductive Life Plan booklets, the deeper into the summer I went, the more independence and freedom I had to work on whatever interested me, and to engage with the various teams at Cradle.”ing to the needs of others.”
– Lamia Himed