SAY Detroit turns baby shower into maternal-health support event

What was called a baby shower at the Ernest T. Ford Recreation Center in Highland Park functioned more like a maternal-health support stop, with more than three dozen mothers and moms-to-be receiving childbirth and postpartum-care education, treatment services from CALM and access to a “shop” stocked with new and donated items.

SAY Detroit said the annual First Year Baby Shower took place on Saturday, May 16, and that the gathering blended resource sharing with hands-on support for participants in its First Year program. Royalty Birthing Services helped lead the education side of the day, while volunteers spent the day before transforming the space for an invitation-only event aimed at mothers and moms-to-be already enrolled in the program. The setup reflected the way SAY Detroit has built First Year: as a free service that includes baby supplies, one-on-one counseling and a focus on safe sleep during a baby’s first year.

That model has been evolving for six years, backed by the Zatkoff Family Legacy Fund and led by Alexis Harvey, a community health worker. The event also drew support from Kroger, The Whitney, Nino Salvaggio-Bloomfield, Victorias Cupcakes, Babylove's Consignment, Dr. Samantha Cowing of CMG and Sue Norander of the City of Highland Park recreation department, a sponsor list that underscored how much coordination now sits behind what used to be treated as a simple celebration.

Participants said the day mattered because it met more than one need at once. Megan Brown, who attended with her husband, said the resources and the chance to share what she was going through made the event feel meaningful. That combination of education, practical supplies and connection is exactly what has given SAY Detroit’s baby shower format staying power. A 2022 gathering celebrated two dozen mothers and moms-to-be while marking the program’s first anniversary, and a 2024 volunteer call described the shower as the second annual event for First Year participants.

The larger public-health backdrop helps explain why the format has found a foothold. Michigan recorded 629 infant deaths in 2024, for an infant mortality rate of 6.3 per 1,000 live births, and the CDC lists the state at 6.33 per 1,000. A CHRT brief put Michigan’s maternal mortality rate at 19.1 deaths per 1,000 births in 2022, with nearly 75% deemed preventable. Against that reality, SAY Detroit’s baby shower looks less like a social rite than a delivery system for supplies, guidance, confidence and connection during the hardest stretch of early parenthood.