Maternal and Infant Vitality Initiative
The Maternal and Infant Vitality Initiative is a grant funded program by the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, that allows Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County to develop strategies that will help decrease infant mortality, especially among African American/Black infants. This is done in two ways: Neighborhood Navigation and community coalition work.
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Complete our Neighborhood Navigation - Contact Form
Neighborhood Navigation
Public Health’s Neighborhood Navigators help pregnant and postpartum people (baby under the age of 1) access resources such as baby supplies, utility assistance, prenatal care, home visiting services, housing and many more. To get connected to a Neighborhood Navigator, call (937) 496-7718.
How We Can Help
Our Neighborhood Navigators are trained Community Health Workers that combine their lived experience and professional skills to provide support and resources to birthing people in Montgomery County. We can connect you with:
- Prenatal care providers
- Baby supplies (diapers, wipes, clothing, and other materials)
- Resources for infant car seats and safe-sleep surfaces
- Pregnancy support groups
- Prenatal education classes
- And more!
Connect with a Public Health Neighborhood Navigator today!
What’s Next
After an initial conversation to connect with you and identify your needs, we will work together to identify your goals and connect you with resources to help you have a healthy pregnancy and get your baby to their first birthday. We will follow up with you 3 times to address any barriers you may have to accessing resources and learn about any other needs you have. At the end of our time together, you have the option to be referred to other programs that provide home visiting or case management to continue receiving support.
Learn about how Public Health's Maternal and Infant Vitality Initiative connects pregnant mothers connect with resources in Montgomery County with Johnje Jasper, Maternal and Child Health Navigation Supervisor.
FAQs
Our program is typically 4 weeks long
You must be pregnant or have a baby younger than 1 year old, and live in Montgomery County
You can only enroll in our program once during the prenatal or postpartum period, but please feel free to reach out if you need any additional support or resources and we can work with you to connect you with another program that can help!
We can complete your enrollment and follow ups via phone or in-person if you’d like. We do not require home visits.
You can complete a referral for someone that you know! We will contact them to explain the program and see if they’d like to enroll.
Why It Matters
In 2023, Black infants in Ohio were 2.4 times more likely to die than white infants. Maternal and Infant Vitality Initiative (MIVI) is a grant-funded collaboration between the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) and local partners, created in 2012, to address these racial inequities in birth outcomes. Population data is used to target areas for outreach and services in the 10 counties with the largest disparities. These 10 counties accounted for 88% of Ohio’s non-Hispanic Black infant deaths and 60% of all infant deaths in 2023.
Through these efforts, Ohio is working to amplify the vision and voices of communities most impacted by disparities in birth outcomes and infant deaths. It is important that we also support a locally-driven, holistic approach to racial inequities in birth outcomes and infant deaths led by those with the deepest knowledge about the changes needed — the affected communities themselves.
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