September was National Infant Mortality Awareness Month, and First Year Cleveland, alongside CelebrateOne Columbus, Cradle Cincinnati, and the Ohio Collaborative to Prevent Infant Mortality (OCPIM) honored the month by hosting their 4th annual Infant Vitality Advocacy Day. The September 29, 2026 event was their most attended advocacy day yet.
More than 200 advocates attended: community partners, nonprofit organizations such as The Center for Community Solutions, local government agencies, Case Western Reserve University students, mothers with their babies, hospitals representatives, and more.
Throughout the day, the group educated legislators and legislative aides about paid family and medical leave—Senate Bill (SB) 396—and housing. In total, advocates met with over 30 state legislators. Participants also convened in the Governor Thomas Worthington Room in the statehouse where we made buttons/pins showing support for infant vitality, networked, and posted sticky notes on a board explaining why this work is important.
During the meetings, our community partners explained their experiences with patients or their family members who struggled with the lack of paid leave. We provided insight on the significance of offering paid leave for family caregivers and gave handouts of our caregiver fact sheets, which described the number of caregivers in their districts, and those who struggle financially.
The conversation shifted to the benefits of paid leave for caregivers. We talked about housing support through Healthy Beginnings at Home. Legislators are people, too, just like the Ohioans they serve. Several shared their experiences as parents and caregivers, creating meaningful connections to our discussions about paid family and medical leave and housing supports.
Public officials honored for their service in helping families
Infant Vitality Advocacy Day ended with a warm reception in the statehouse, where advocates and other partners gathered to celebrate the day’s successes, acknowledged legislators, and their legislative aides. Senators Beth Liston (D-Dublin) and Louis W. Blessing III (R-Colerain Township) received awards for their work on SB 396. Their legislative aides accepted the awards on their behalf, and Senator Blessing III sent a video response appreciating the award and expressing the importance of paid leave.
Gubernatorial campaigns also attended the reception. Dr. Apoorva Ramaswamy provided a video sharing her remarks supporting paid leave from a physician’s perspective.
The reception ended with a fireside chat with Representative Dr. Anita Somani (D-Dublin), who represented Dr. Amy Acton’s campaign, and explained the gubernatorial candidate’s priorities to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies. Representative Somani described that Dr. Acton—if elected as governor—will focus on the social drivers of health for families and gave an example of how she created a program to help homeless pregnant youth. She explained that Dr. Acton plans to work on housing for homeless pregnant individuals if she is elected as the new governor. She further talked about various things the candidate wants to work on such as managing Medicaid cuts, dental access, and education (as it relates to preterm births), and increasing health care access in schools.
Infant Vitality Advocacy Day is a practical example of supporting progress across the lifespan
The advocacy day centered on progress across the life span as participants and speakers showed their support for improving health outcomes for families. When considering paid family and medical leave in Ohio, advocates are trying to ensure babies and parents get the care they need to remain healthy. Family caregivers help their older adult loved ones age gracefully by managing their health and daily activities of living. Housing is a social determinant of health, and people need a place to live so they can take care of themselves and family members.
When Ohio supports families with time to care and a safe place to call home, healthier lives are possible across generations. That is what advocates try to accomplish, and we hope that legislators support it.
