September is Infant Mortality Awareness Month and as YNN's Erin Clarke tells us, several local agencies joined together Wednesday to shed light on the issue and celebrate healthy babies.

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Colorful strollers were paraded through Kirk Park Wednesday. Proud parents showing off their babies as part of the first ever Syracuse Stroll.

"What we wanted to do is really focus on all the beautiful babies in the City of Syracuse who reach their first birthday and celebrate day 366," said Syracuse Healthy Start Project Director Kathleen Coughlin.

A celebration of life that some parents don't get to share in.

"Our black babies are still dying at two and a half to three times the rate of our white babies and that's absolutely unacceptable," said Onondaga County Health Commissioner Dr. Cynthia Morrow.

In Syracuse, the infant mortality rate is 9.8 per every thousand live births, compared to 6.7 in Onondaga County. Many factors contribute to that startling rate, but the Health Commissioner says the numbers are down from last year.

But there's more work to be done. The purpose of the stroll is to educate the public and make sure more babies live beyond their first year.

A program through the health department's Healthy Families division is doing just that. It's called the Nurse-Family Partnership. Parents complete more than two years of home visits and health education to help raise healthy toddlers.

Twenty-one-year-old Amy Scro is a recent grad of the program and say she's a better mom because of it.

"It gives a lot of info that I didn't know about kids as being a new mom. How to raise them, how to keep them healthy," said Scro.

Members of the health community hope this young mother's words resonate with more women and that events like the Syracuse Stroll spread a message, pointing more people towards resources that can save a child's life.

For more information on programs for mothers and babies:

• Call Syracuse Healthy Start, Healthy Families at (315) 435-2000


• Visit the Onondaga County Health Department at www.ongov.net


• Visit RECAH CNY, Inc. at www.reachcny.org