Detroit mothers and mothers-to-be can ensure the best possible healthy start for their children by attending Mama Palooza on Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
The event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., is sponsored by Make Your Date, the citywide initiative launched by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to help Detroit's expectant mothers deliver healthy full-term babies and reduce the rate of premature birth.
Mothers and expectant mothers will be able to learn more about the Make Your Date program, sign up as patients in the program and sign up for appropriate insurance coverage. There will be free ice cream, giveaways, museum tours and valet parking. Mayor Duggan will be at the event as well to welcome guests.
Make Your Date welcomes first new baby!
The Make Your Date program already is delivering results. Daniella Page, one of the first women to enroll in Make Your Date, delivered her healthy, full-term baby boy Aug. 28. As a participant in the program, Daniella received cervical length screening and group prenatal care. She and her baby, Daniel, will be at Mama Palooza to share her positive experience with prospective Make Your Date mothers.
"I'm so proud of Daniella for signing up for the program and thrilled that Make Your Date has helped her to deliver a happy, healthy baby," Duggan said. "Any woman who is expecting and who may be at risk for pre-term delivery should come out to hear Daniella's story and enroll in Make Your Date."
"We want mothers-to-be in Detroit to know that Make Your Date is here to help ensure their baby has the healthiest start possible in life," said Sonia Hassan, M.D., associate dean for Maternal, Perinatal and Child Health at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, who leads the Make Your Date program with Detroit Public Health Director Vernice Anthony. "Mama Palooza serves as a day of hope, introducing the city's women to this groundbreaking program and the vital resources they should all take advantage of through contact with our dedicated civic and health care partners, who are all passionate about lowering the city's unacceptable pre-term birth rate."
In Detroit, 18 percent of babies are born prematurely, a rate nearly 6 percent higher than the state average. Studies show that low birth weight accounts for almost 50 percent of the city's infant mortality rate of 14 deaths in every 1,000 births, twice the national average.
How Make Your Date Works
The Make Your Date campaign, launched in May, provides a consistent approach among local health care providers in how they deliver support and care to expectant mothers.
Expectant mothers who sign on to Make Your Date will have access to a range of support and evidence-based medical services made available at no additional cost through the Detroit Medical Center, St. John Providence and Henry Ford Health System, including connecting future mothers to prenatal care providers; preterm birth prevention education classes; regular ultrasounds for all pregnant women, which can identify the potential need for progesterone, a treatment that may reduce the risk of preterm birth by 45 percent in women with a short cervix; and group prenatal care for expecting mothers.
The Make Your Date campaign asks expectant mothers to do three things:
- Make a doctor's appointment to begin regular checkups.
- Work with Make Your Date and their provider to develop a "healthy mother, healthy baby" plan, which includes everything from testing and treatment to nutrition and rest.
- Join group prenatal care or pregnancy education classes, where they get support and information and can share questions, ideas and concerns.
Make Your Date is a not-for-profit organization.
To learn more about Make Your Date visit www.MakeYourDate.org or call 313-577-1000.
Contact: Philip Van Hulle, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 313-577-6943.
Media note: Daniella Page and her son are available for interviews during the week leading up Mama Palooza.