When township resident Phyllis Rabinowitz was looking for a way to raise money and awareness for better pediatric emergency health care, she and her husband, Andrew, came up with the idea of holding a race.

The R Baby Mother’s Day Run/Walk in New York’s Central Park will be held this Sunday; over 6,500 runners will participate. The choice of a race as a fundraiser, she said, is symbolic.

“We are in an actual race to save babies’ lives in this country,” Rabinowitz said. “Thirty thousand babies die each year.”

Rabinowitz knows this sad truth particularly well. In July 2006, she and her husband had a baby girl, Rebecca. Rebecca had trouble breathing, and the Rabinowitzes took her to their doctor or hospital emergency room every day.

Her symptoms were repeatedly diagnosed as simply a common cold. Rebecca died at nine days old of a common enteroviral infection; if her symptoms had been treated, she would still be alive.

After losing their daughter, the Rabinowitzes formed the R Baby Foundation, a nonprofit to organize and fund efforts to improve infant medical care in the United States.

“It’s pretty alarming that infants have a better chance to survive, statistically, in lesser-developed countries than they do in the United States,” Rabinowitz said.

Only 23 percent of American hospital emergency rooms have pediatric specialists, she said, and medical students who choose to train in pediatrics can expect to receive the lowest salaries of any specialists.

“Our grants help bridge that gap,” she said. “We provide training and education, as well as grants for general emergency room physicians to be more trained in pediatrics. The immunity of babies is so low—in the event of illness, you have to act fast.”

Along with the over 6,500 runners for the four mile race, she said, almost 1,000 walkers and over 600 children will participate.

Anyone who wants to participate can show up on Sunday at the East 69th Street bandshell. “There will be a ton of activities, and it will be fun for people to see and be part of it! Take a stand with us that infant health care needs help," Rabinowitz said.

Registration begins at 6:30 a.m., and the run starts at 8 am. Other activities will include a performance by The Raggs band, a family festival and a kids’ fun run.

“This race is a way for us to reach the broader community and to make them aware of the issues of pediatric emergency care,” Rabinowitz said.

Until experiencing her own tragedy, Rabinowitz said, she herself was unaware of the shortcomings in child health care in America.

“What’s crazy to me is that it is well-documented from many governmental sources that infant health care is underserved,” she said. “I just didn’t know any of this. But when you go through a tragedy and start looking at things, it is just so broken out there.”