For babies, diapers are essential like food and shelter. Yet 1 in 3 families in the US don’t have enough diapers for their youngest children, with low-income families hit the hardest. “Diaper need” is not being able to afford enough diapers to keep a child clean and dry.
Health risks of diaper need
Babies risk severe rash and infection when a parent leaves a dirty diaper on for too long, or dries out and reuses diapers. Babies can’t attend childcare or preschool unless families can maintain a “stash” of extra diapers on hand.
When babies can’t go to childcare or preschool, a parent may be forced to give up a job and a paycheck to care for baby. It’s a vicious cycle that holds families back when trying to break out of poverty.
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Did you know:
Diapers can’t be purchased with WIC or food stamps
Diapers are classified with cigarettes, alcohol and pet food and excluded from public assistance
Diapers cost upwards of $80 month for most families but a $10 donation through the Healthy Mom&Baby Diaper Drive diapers a baby for a week through our partner, the non-profit National Diaper Bank Network
Nurses Diaper Their Tiniest Patients
But there’s hope: For as long as families have struggled with diaper need, nurses have stood in the gap by providing extra resources for the families they serve.
Nurses teach parents how to change baby’s first diaper. And nurses regularly collect and give out diapers, wipes, clothes and car seats to their tiniest patients, according to a survey from the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric & Neonatal Nurses, (AWHONN), which publishes Healthy Mom&Baby magazine.
At local AWHONN meetings, nurses collect infant care items and then give them to families in need during baby showers and educational events at their hospitals and clinics. Nurses also connect families to social services for even more help.
Healthy Mom&Baby Diaper Drive
So it was only natural that the magazine that nurses write for pregnant women would be the same magazine to create a national diaper drive to share the stories of nurses meeting diaper need in their communities all across the country. Working with partners Huggies® and the non-profit National Diaper Bank Network, the Healthy Mom&Baby Diaper Drive makes sure nurses get the credit and recognition they deserve for helping families combatting diaper need.
Every year, you can join with nurses in the bid to make a difference for families in your community. It’s time to end diaper need for families in your community—here’s how:
Help Nurses Wipe Out Diaper Need
WHAT IT IS: Nurses and families across the U.S. donating diapers to diaper banks and pantries in their communities in partnership with Huggies® and the non-profit National Diaper Bank Network.
GET INVOLVED: Donate diapers at a bank near you, and then report how many diapers and where you donated at DiaperDrive.org to have your efforts counted in our national total. Reporting your donation helps those who would “match” our efforts have the greatest impact on diaper need.
2016 GOAL: More than 250,000 diapers donated at diaper banks and pantries throughout the country. Disposable, cloth, and hybrid diapers are all needed.
GIVE A DONATION: $10 buys a week’s worth of diapers–$20 buys two weeks’ worth—at wholesale prices through the National Diaper Bank Network. Donate today at DiaperDrive.org.
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