R Baby Foundation Raises $2.5 Million in First Year

NEW YORK, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- R Baby Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to reducing the high level of infant mortality in the United States, announced today that it raised over $2.5 million in its first year and is happy to announce five new hospital programs that received grants in January 2008 totaling $500,000. R Baby is committed to improving medical care for infants and is focused on supporting the medical community and educating the public about the risk of newborn deaths, particularly those that occur as a result of misdiagnosed and untreated viral infections.

R Baby Foundation was found on December 6, 2006 with the mission to save babies' lives. In 2007, R Baby Foundation raised over $2.5 million primarily through its New York fundraising event held at the Mandarin Oriental with prominent speakers and guests including Kelly Ripa, Boomer Esiason and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. 95% of the proceeds from the event will go straight to improving medical care for infants and newborns, and as of January, over $700,000 has been used to establish grants at seven different hospitals.

Co-President and Founder Phyllis Rabinowitz stated, "We are thrilled that we are able to provide necessary funding for these lifesaving programs. These five grants all focus on pediatric emergency care and seek to address medical needs across a broad spectrum of areas, including training, equipment, education and communication. We look forward to working with the hospitals to raise awareness on the need for better care and will continue to track the results of our programs to ensure that we invest in making our programs as successful as possible."

Andrew Rabinowitz, Co-President and Founder, continued, "These past 18 months have been life-changing for Phyllis and me, and we continue to be inspired by lives we have been able to touch through R Baby Foundation. Our goal remains to save babies' lives and these grants are only the first steps in an ongoing process to contribute to programs and publish materials that will change the way that urgent care for infants is viewed."

The five new programs from January 2008 that focus on pediatric emergency care are:

    -- Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian: A
       pediatric emergency medicine phone consultation service staffed 24/7 by
       pediatric emergency medicine specialists at Columbia University will be
       established to bridge the gap between the care given for babies and
       children at pediatric emergency departments and general emergency
       departments.
    -- Maria Ferari Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical: The grant will
       be used to develop an Emergency Department (ED) Certification Program
       that will educate the community about the preferred locations at which
       to seek urgent medical care for babies.  An ED will only gain the
       certification after the pediatric equipment and training requirements
       are met.  The hospital will share its pediatric expertise through
       education and by developing guidelines for optimal emergency care.
    -- The Mount Sinai Department of Emergency Medicine: The R Baby Foundation
       Fellowship will support the challenging clinical and academic training
       of a talented individual as a pediatric emergency medicine specialist
       focused on infectious diseases.  The grant will also support an R Baby
       Lectureship, which allows for an infectious disease/pediatric emergency
       medicine expert to educate over 300 physicians.
    -- NYU/Bellevue: Funding will support better training of highly skilled
       pediatric resuscitation teams.  A computer driven infant mannequin is
       integrated with monitors and audio inputs to simulate a real-life
       resuscitation experience.  Practicing on these realistic simulated
       patients will decrease resuscitation errors and enhance the pediatric
       provider's knowledge and skills.
    -- Goryeb Children's Hospital at Morristown Memorial Hospital: R Baby
       Foundation will support a collaborative effort between the Goryeb
       Children's Hospital and the Institute for Family Centered Care that
       will elevate involvement of patients and families to levels seen only
       at the nation's leading hospitals.  Designed to optimize communication
       which in turn will reduce errors and improve patient satisfaction, the
       initiative will begin in the pediatric intensive care unit and the
       Gagnon Pediatric Emergency Department.

Initially these programs are estimated to impact hundreds of thousands of babies each year -- with millions affected over time. R Baby's granting cycle will continue to be January and June.

FACTS ON PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY CARE:

The following are alarming facts on the lack of adequate pediatric care in the U.S.

    -- Children make up 27% of all Emergency Department (ED) visits, but only
       6% of EDs in the U.S. have the necessary supplies for pediatric
       emergencies.
    -- Many drugs and medical devices have not been adequately tested on or
       dosed properly for children -- including babies.
    -- Although pediatric skills deteriorate quickly without practice,
       continuing education in pediatric care is not required or is extremely
       limited for many pre-hospital emergency medical technicians (EMTs).

    Source: "The Future of Emergency Care," 2006 Institute of Medicine

ABOUT R BABY FOUNDATION

R Baby Foundation was established in 2006 by Phyllis and Andrew Rabinowitz, who lost their daughter Rebecca Ava Rabinowitz when she was nine days old as a result of a viral infection that was not diagnosed or treated. The aim of R Baby is to organize and fund efforts to improve the outcomes of medical care for infants, particularly those who contract certain viral infections. R Baby is dedicated to helping newborn babies, primarily in their first month, with often misunderstood viral infections and other infectious diseases, receive the highest quality of care and service through supporting education, research, treatment, training, and life-saving equipment. R Baby is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit charitable organization.

For more information about R Baby Foundation or to donate, please visit www.rbabyfoundation.org.

    CONTACT
    Nina Devlin/Sarah Lackritz
    Brunswick Group
    212-333-3810/202-393-7337
    rbaby@brunswickgroup.com