FIMR Success Story


Region 1 Virginia Perinatal Council (VPC) Tara West, Coordinator of Regional Perinatal Council Projects, tcwest@carilionclinic.org


O


ne of the most positive and effective projects to come directly out of VPC


FIMR is the Baby Basics Moms Club (BBMC). BBMC is a waiting room based education tool that targets, but is not limited to, low literacy, low income pregnant women. There are 24 topics covered which include the 6 core topics of Safe Sleep, Substance Abuse/ Tobacco Use, Nutrition, Preterm Labor, Breastfeeding, Postpartum Depression/ Domestic Violence. These core topics have been identified in FIMR and are considered priorities by the CAT for consumer education. Moms club has grown from 1 site in 2010 to 5 sites in 2012. Club meetings last approximately 90 minutes and generally two topics are covered in each meeting. On average 6 to 12 moms attend each club meeting per week and bring a support partner with them. These are typically women who would not attend a traditional childbirth class. Incentives are built into the club for certain milestones met (this is all funded through outside support). There is a one on one program/ participant evaluation tool offered at 6 weeks post partum to assess for changes in behavior, program satisfaction and linkage to other services that address the needs of the moms to be and her family.


Supporting data:


• 27.9% of the female population in VA age between the ages of 18–44 do not have a high school diploma (U.S. Census 2010)


• www.engagingthepatient.com • Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State Georgetown University Washington, DC June 14, 2012 www.state.gov


• The Baby Basics Program provides evidence-based tools, training and technical assistance for health care systems and providers to help them better educate and engage underserved pregnant women by using health literacy and cultural competency techniques


• Baby Basics Pregnancy guide/tools are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Bengali, French Haitian Creole, Hindi, Korean, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Urdu


• This program is also endorsed by the former US Surgeon General Richard Carmona and the National March of Dimes Currently the Region 1 Perinatal Council is in the process of expanding the BBMC to include two Spanish groups (Carilion Roanoke Memorial and Carilion New River Valley). This effort is made possible through March of Dimes funding.


RESOURCE UPDATE New FIMR document


2012 saw some exciting changes at the National FIMR Resource Center. NFIMR and Association of SIDS and Infant Morality Programs (ASIP) first collaborated to produce panel presentations with community providers and advocates from various cultural backgrounds. These panel discussions were collected to produce a new document, Voices from the Community: Cross Cultural Expressions of Grief and Loss of an Infant. Voice is one of the first of its kind to bring the voice of the bereaved from many different cultures. This document should be a useful tool for perinatal and pediatric caregivers to help families of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds to cope with fetal and infant deaths. The document can be found online by clicking here. Limited hard copies are also available, and can be ordered on the NFIMR website.


A publication of the National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program • 202.863.2587


5


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8