Erie County Medical Center celebrates conclusion of 'Community Baby Shower'

Annual event supports moms and babies living below the poverty line in Erie County 

Erie County Medical Center will celebrate the conclusion of its "Community Baby Shower" today with a cupcake celebration, and unveil the grand total of items collected for the community.

ECMC hosted a community shower and collected essential baby items to help mothers living below the poverty line provide their babies a stronger start in life, and to provide the support both moms and newborns need for a healthy beginning. From April 18-27 pack and plays were located in the ECMC lobby for people to drop off their donations.

As a sponsor of the "Community Baby Shower" for the past three years, ECMC has played a critical role in ensuring mothers most in need are receiving resources to help them raise a healthy and happy baby.

Thomas J. Quatroche Jr., Ph.D., ECMC president and CEO, said, "The challenges of parenthood can be difficult enough, especially when becoming a parent for the first time, but for those less fortunate in our community, the challenges can be overwhelming. Thanks to the hard work of our partners at the United Way, the 'Community Baby Shower' helps to alleviate those difficulties, and ECMC has been a proud participant in this very worthy effort. The support of our ECMC family is reflected in the essential baby items they have contributed, and we are all thankful for their generosity."

Donations of diapers, wipes, digital thermometers, baby board books and other essential items for Erie County's youngest residents will be organized into "baby bundles" that will be distributed to three United Way-funded nonprofit agencies that serve young families, including Catholic Charities of Buffalo WIC program, Buffalo Prenatal Perinatal Network and the Jericho Road Community Health Center Priscilla Project.

The shower was created in 2012 as a way to give moms and their babies a stronger, healthier start in life and has supported more than 3,000 young families since its inception. In Erie County, thousands of babies are born into poverty and many face health risks due to a lack of prenatal care. Each week, nine babies are born to women receiving no or late prenatal care; 22 are born pre-term; 16 are low birth weight; and one will not survive to reach one year of age.

Michael Weiner, United Way president and CEO, said, "ECMC has been very generous over the last three years in supporting new mothers through the 'Community Baby Shower.' While many of us can identify with the stress of being a new parent, the added layer of poverty or health issues as a result of a pre-term or low birth weight baby can be overwhelming. By providing some of the essentials that young families need, our community can help give these families a better start, new hope and demonstrate that they have support for a stronger start in life for their babies."

The United Way of Buffalo & Erie County brings people, organizations and resources together to improve community well-being. Through program funding, community collaborations and strategic initiatives in the areas of education, financial stability, and health and wellness, United Way helps children reach their full potential, adults and families achieve financial stability, and people of all ages achieve and maintain physical, social and emotional health. For more information, visitwww.uwbec.org.

The ECMC Corp. includes an advanced academic medical center (ECMC) with 602 inpatient beds, on- and off-campus health centers, more than 30 outpatient specialty care services and Terrace View, a 390-bed long-term care facility. ECMC is a Level 1 adult trauma center, a regional center for burn care, behavioral health services, transplantation, medical oncology and head and neck cancer care, rehabilitation and a major teaching facility for the University at Buffalo. Most ECMC physicians, dentists and pharmacists are dedicated faculty members of the university and/or members of a private practice plan.