Birthing Project USA

From CNN:

(CNN) -- When she was a public health administrator for the state of California, Kathryn Hall-Trujillo found that her greatest challenge was paying for babies who were born sick.

"The figure we were working with at that time was about $300,000 ... to stabilize a baby for the first 90 days," said Hall-Trujillo, who worked for the state from 1976-1991.

At the same time, she said, it cost just $2,000 to ensure pregnant mothers received all the care they needed for a healthy pregnancy and proper delivery.

The staggering disparity, along with troubling rates of infant mortality in America, compelled Hall-Trujillo, 62, to find a solution.

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What Hall-Trujillo came up with was Birthing Project USA. Since 1988, the nonprofit organization has been battling high infant-mortality rates by pairing soon-to-be moms with volunteer "sister friends" who provide guidance and support through the pregnancy and first year of the baby's life.

Of every 1,000 babies born in the United States, at least six (6.14) do not survive their first year of life, according to the CIA World Factbook. That gives the United States only the 45th best infant mortality rate in the world, trailing top-ranked Monaco (1.78 deaths per thousand births) and countries such as Japan (2.79) and the United Kingdom (4.78).

Read more here.

MR