CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Megan Call is canvassing in East Charlotte to bring awareness to an initiative to improve infant and maternal mortality rates. 

“If we can help parents be healthy and have healthy babies, I just feel like that’s going to help them have a lot more joy in their life,” she said. 

The MyBaby4Me Program works to help improve infant and maternal mortality rates. It's hosted by the Galilee Center.

“It’s kind of just trying to address all the ways to help the mother and the baby be healthy and just start off life in a good healthy way,” Call said. “It’s a wealth of information for new moms.”

She says this was a way for her to give back to people in Charlotte.

“If this is one way that I can do it, then it sounded like something simple I could do to maybe help make a difference,” Call said.

Pregnant women and moms get access to a range of free resources like classes for mental health, nutrition, prenatal care assistance, postpartum support, and even help with meals and groceries.

As a mom herself, Call says resources like this would’ve been a big help to her, even with the support she already had.

“It was still really hard to be a new mom,” she said. “If we can do something to help people as they adjust to a new situation as mom, I think that would be fantastic and just give them the best opportunity to set them up for success.”

A 2023 report from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services says the state had the 10th highest infant mortality rate in the country. The disparity is even larger with women of color. Black babies died at rates three times higher than white babies.

Call says she’s surprised to know about high rates, even in Charlotte, but she believes this program will help.

“I'm really hopeful that these resources are actually going to improve people’s lives. They’re going to save babies. They’re going to actually save lives,” she said.

MyBaby4Me, which began in Tennessee, officially launches in Charlotte on April 28.