MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin has the second highest infant mortality rate in the nation for Black women, according to the Department of Health Services.

What You Need To Know

  • Wisconsin has the second highest infant mortality rate in the nation for Black women, according to the Department of Health Services

  • The Saving Our Babies initiative has been working to save lives in Dane County for the past six years

  • They do this through the Connect Rx program, which uses a screening tool and partnerships with health workers to assist at-risk mothers.

  • Leaders say they've made improvements in the past six years, including increased birth weight for Black babies

The Saving Our Babies initiative is working to save lives in Dane County.

Ariel Robbins is always busy with her son, Cairo. She became a mom almost two years ago, after she joined the Saving Our Babies initiative.

Robbins said she’s passionate about the cause as a program director with the Dane County Health Council. She said being pregnant put the work into perspective.

“It was really exciting,” Robbins said. “But it was also somewhat of a sobering experience, just being aware of the inequities and the poor birth outcomes that Black women in our county face.”

Robbins was among some of the first patients to utilize Connect Rx, a program launched by Saving Our Babies. A health and lifestyle screening revealed she was under stress, so the program helped her get support from a community health worker and doula.

“I did not have family here locally, to be able to serve in the role that typically a family would when anybody goes through their birthing journey and their prenatal journey,” Robbins said. “So, it was great to have somebody calling on a regular basis to check in to see how the pregnancy was going.”

Micaela Berry-Smith serves as senior programs manager for Community & Maternal and Child Health Initiatives with the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness.

Berry-Smith is also a mom and doula who works to help Black women through pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Over the years, she noticed a common trait among pregnant Black women she’s worked with.

“They were afraid to go to the doctor,” she said. “They were afraid to have that relationship or build that relationship. But, when I would support them in that, or say this is something that we can work together and brave together and go through this process, then they felt more inclined to do that.”

Berry-Smith said Saving Our Babies is having a noticeable positive impact in Dane County.

“We knew that at one point in Madison, one of the biggest things that was happening was a low birth weight, especially for Black babies,” she said. “So to have that increase and see those improvements has been great.”

Robbins said she hopes this initiative can expand to other parts of Wisconsin and serve as a nationwide model.

“It is a replicable model that really could benefit the lives of many, many more community members in our nation,” she said.

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