Methodist Hospitals hosted its traditional Baby Steps event on Friday, May 17. This event serves as a large baby shower that welcomes pregnant mothers or those with an infant to receive information and community resources to help them in their family’s health journey.
Methodist Hospitals Perinatal RN Navigator LaToya Pahrm has found this event to be a valuable component in helping the hospital educate new or soon-to-be mothers and their families.
“This is something that we have been doing for several years now,” Pahrm said. “We've found an opportunity with grant funds to be able to expand these events, making them more useful for the community. We have a high infant mortality rate in Lake County, and this event allows us to educate the people here and have some fun.”
Pahrm notes the importance of educating families of Northwest Indiana about the infant mortality rate so they can learn and take steps to avoid it. “The most important thing for us is that we want to raise awareness in the community regarding the infant mortality rate,” Pahrm said. “It’s something that a lot of people don’t really know about here. We’re here to cover all the ways that these families can try to prevent that from happening.”
The event provided a wide variety of food and one large gift for every family in attendance. Perinatal RN Navigator with Methodist Hospitals Ellen Ireland shared what these gifts consist of and how beneficial they will be for the attending families.
“We wanted to give gifts to thank everyone for coming,” Ireland said. “They're doing themselves a favor by receiving the education and getting exposed to all these people who want to help them in that community. We've been able to expand the choice for them over recent years. They have the option of getting a Pack ‘n Play, stroller, bassinet or a swing to go with another small gift as well.”
More than a dozen additional organizations were in attendance supporting the event as partners of Methodist Hospitals. Ireland is grateful to have an opportunity to work with so many people who share the goal of reducing infant mortality in Northwest Indiana.
“The community partners that are here all have that same goal and mission in mind to help moms of all ages,” Ireland said. “Providing them with the resources that they need so we can decrease the overall problem of infant mortality in Northwest Indiana. Everybody is passionate about the health of moms and babies, which is what makes it so great. It takes a village to raise a child, and to help ensure the well being of each family.”
Not only did Ireland show appreciation to the event partners, but to everyone who came out for this program. She noted that this was the largest turnout yet and she can’t wait for Methodist Hospitals to help out more families moving forward.
For more information on Methodist Hospitals, you can visit its website.
