GAO Calls On HHS to Create Strong Assessments for White House Blueprint on the Maternal Health Crisis

February 2024 – Citing a “maternal health crisis”, this month the General Accounting Office reported that maternal mortality and other adverse pregnancy- or childbirth-related outcomes “worsened significantly” in 2020/2021 over 2018/2019. This included persistent disparities during the pandemic: the rate for non-Hispanic Black/African American women was around 2.5 times greater than for non-Hispanic white women. […]

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Guys and Grief podcast launches

A new resource for grieving dads Today, I’m excited to announce the launch of Guys and Grief – a podcast dedicated to helping dads navigate their grief journey. The first episode airs today and you can listen to it here. It’s especially significant as one of the co-hosts of the podcast is Brian Scruton, the […]

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First Candle Awarded HHS Grant to Address Structural Racism in Infant Safe Sleep Education

Non-Profit to Lead Three-year Community-Based Project Aimed at Reducing Black Infant Mortality Rates in Georgia Region October 14, 2022 – New Canaan, CT –  First Candle, the national non-profit organization committed to ending Sudden Unexpected Infant Death has been awarded a $385,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a […]

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Byron Johnson Appointed Chairman of the Board of First Candle

Byron Johnson has been appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors First Candle, it was announced by CEO and Executive Director Alison Jacobson. Johnson is Vice President, Public Affairs at Fleishman Hillard, a global public relations agency with 79 offices in more than 30 countries. An experienced public relations and issues advocacy professional, Johnson’s […]

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HALO Partners With First Candle to Offer Safe Sleep and Implicit Bias Training to Hospitals

April 20, 2022 – New York, NY – It was announced today that juvenile products company HALO, will partner with the national non-profit organization First Candle, to offer safe sleep and implicit bias training to hospitals across the country. HALO was founded in 1994 by Bill Schmid, following the tragic loss of his infant daughter […]

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Let’s Talk has launched in Harlem!

Last week we kicked off our Let’s Talk Community Chat program in partnership with the Hope Center Harlem and the Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership.  This program will offer families in the community the opportunity to receive education and support regarding safe sleep and breastfeeding every month at a location that is convenient and accessible. These community events will […]

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What parents don’t know can harm their babies.

As I have written over the past several months, First Candle is committed to engaging in conversations with families and providing them with practical information on the importance of safe sleep practices that are not only evidenced based, but reality based. We know that parents want to do what’s best for their baby but are […]

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Meet our NYC Marathon Team!

The New York City Marathon is less than two weeks away and we’re so honored and excited to have an amazing group of 16 runners as part of Team First Candle. We have runners who are new to our team and returning runners. We have siblings, aunts, uncles, parents and friends who have experienced the […]

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Join us for an evening of Whiskey and Chocolate Tasting!

WHEN:  Thursday, December 10th, 7-8:30PM EST Join us for another Zoom event sampling three whiskeys from Woodinville Whiskey Co. accompanied with infused chocolate bonbons and truffles from Yelibelly Chocolates. Renee George will be discussing the history of Woodinville distillery and what led to them earning “Craft Whiskey of the Year” and “Craft Rye Whiskey of […]

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