Help Our Community’s Babies Have More First Birthdays

March 15, 2023

Be a part of Healthy Start’s Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR), a community-driven action to make meaningful changes to improve services, systems and resources for families and reduce stillbirths and infant deaths.

WHY YOU SHOULD BECOME INVOLVED

Infant mortality is a key indicator of the health of a community and its social and economic well‐being
Our community’s fetal & infant mortality rates are persistently high: consistently higher than the State’s
average rates
Alarming racial and ethnic disparities: Black babies in our area are more than twice as likely to be born
still as white babies and are more likely to die before their first birthday

ANYONE PASSIONATE ABOUT SAVING BABIES HAS A PART TO PLAY

Community advocates
Community and political leaders
Health care providers & administrators
Social services agencies
Family members who have experienced a still birth or infant loss
Public health workers & administrators
First responders
Chamber of Commerce members/business leaders

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?

Identifying gaps in resources and services…and finding solutions!
Identifying barriers and challenges families face…and finding solutions!
Identifying social factors that impact stillbirths and infant deaths…and finding solutions!
Sharing your unique knowledge and experience to strengthen and improve your community

WHAT IS FIMR?

A national, evidence‐based model proven to reduce stillbirths & infant deaths
A community‐driven, action‐based process to review all the circumstances surrounding an infant or fetal
loss and find solutions to problems the family experienced accessing services
Provides context to the life of the parents, the family, and the death of the infant
Identifies social factors that impact outcomes

WHAT FIMR IS NOT

FIMR is NOT about assigning blame or fault or determining each individual death was preventable‐‐there
is something to be learned by every loss
You will NOT see any pictures and cases are anonymous and confidential
FIMR is NOT conducting research on causes of fetal & infant deaths—social, economic, and systems factors are tracked for the purpose of improving care and resources in a specific community

HOW FIMR WORKS
Based on their expertise, FIMR members will participate in one of the FIMR workgroups: either the The Case Review Team or the Community Action Group.

Case Review Team (CRT) is the “information processing” group. This is the team that will review and analyze the medical case extractions and the family interviews and develop recommendations as to what services, systems and/or policies should be created or improved. LEARN MORE

Community Action Groups (CAG) are the “champions for change” that have the political will and resources to develop and implement solutions based on the recommendations from the Case Review Team. LEARN MORE

Have questions? Contact Shelly Vickers at svickers@wellflorida.org or 352‐313‐6500 x8032

Ready to become part of the team? Visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2022FIMRInterest