INFANT MORTALITY RATES TOPIC OF SEMINAR

A training seminar will be held Saturday for ministers interested in learning why African-American babies born in the Bootheel have a higher infant mortality rate than those born elsewhere.

The third annual Bootheel Heart Health Project African-American Ministerial Training will be held from 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Malden Community Center. The training is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Health, ASSIST, the Office of Minority Health and the Bootheel Heart Health Project.

"Too many babies are dying in the Bootheel, and the risk is especially high for African-American babies," said Infant Alert project director Rosemary Claus-Gray, one of the speakers scheduled for the seminar.

The infant mortality rate in the Bootheel exceeds the average in Missouri, with an even higher rate for African-Americans. Although African-Americans only comprise 14 percent of the population, 41 percent of all infant deaths are African-Americans under the age of 1.

A recent study found that the mortality rate for African-American infants was 21 deaths per 1,000 live births, more than twice the rate of Caucasian deaths, which were 9.8 per 1,000 live births.

Sponsors hope the seminar will help reduce the risk of infant mortality in the Bootheel by training ministers to educate parents in their communities.

"Education can make the difference," said the Rev. Ivory Dean, president of Mount Zion Helping Ministry Neighborhood Development Corp. in Hayti. "If the people know about the back sleeping position, not smoking, and breast feeding, fewer babies will die. The churches can help inform the people in their congregations and their community."

For more information about the training, call (573) 840-9720.