City of Milwaukee makes goal to reduce baby deaths

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The city of Milwaukee has started a new advertising campaign to try to reduce the number of infant deaths.

Mayor Tom Barrett and Commissioner of Health Bevan Baker unveiled the print ad Wednesday, the same day a 7-week-old baby was found dead after sleeping with his or her mother.

The medical examiner’s office was performing an autopsy. Authorities did not release the baby’s sex.

One of the ads read, “Your baby sleeping with you can be just as dangerous” and show a baby sleeping in a bed with a knife.

City officials say between 2008 and 2010 there were 340 infant deaths in Milwaukee.

Barrett announced a goal to reduce the overall infant mortality rate by at least 15 percent for African Americans and 10 percent overall by 2017.