Franciscan Health turns baby shower into prenatal safety event

Franciscan Health is wrapping prenatal lessons, safety planning and practical gifts into a community baby shower at the Gary Public Library, aiming to reach expectant mothers in a setting that feels more welcoming than a clinic hall. The Tea and Tiny Kicks Community Baby Shower will run Saturday, June 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the event is free for expectant mothers and one guest.

The format is doing more than handing out swag. Franciscan Health Prenatal Assistance Program is presenting the event with Anthem, Count the Kicks, the Gary Public Library and the Northwestern Indiana Fetal Infant Mortality Review, and pre-registration is required because space is limited. Expectant mothers who register and complete the learning opportunity will receive a free Cribette and Safe Sleep Kit, tying the gift directly to the education piece instead of treating it as a giveaway bolted onto the end.

That matters because Franciscan Health says its Prenatal Assistance Program is built to reduce infant mortality in Indiana by improving perinatal health standards of care and helping families create a safe environment for newborns. The program also provides clinical support, education, case workers who connect families with community programs and access to a clinical therapist for mental-health support, which gives the shower a broader role than a one-time outreach event.

Count the Kicks is one of the sharper tools in that mix. The group says its free app helps expectant parents learn their baby’s normal movement patterns in the third trimester, and its educational materials are designed to help providers and families talk about movement monitoring. The organization also says Iowa’s stillbirth rate fell by 32% during the first 10 years of the campaign, a reminder that the lesson is rooted in prevention, not just reassurance.

Franciscan Health has used the baby-shower model before. In Crawfordsville, the organization said a previous shower welcomed 87 mothers and expectant mothers and combined education, community connections and a gift. The Gary event follows the same logic, but with a library venue and a local network of maternal-health partners that makes the outreach feel less like a hospital program and more like a neighborhood intervention.