B1 - Elevating MCH Stories for Social Change

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Full Description: Two Fatality Review Processes, Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) and Maternal Mortality Review (MMR) have begun exploring how to adapt, apply and integrate the science and best practices of Storytelling. FIMR is a community-based, data-driven, action-oriented process aimed at improving services, systems, and resources for women, infants, and families, toward the prevention of fetal and infant deaths. The FIMR approach has been in practice for over 25 years, and today, over 150 local FIMR programs are operating in 27 US states, DC, and two US territories. MMR committees are multidisciplinary panels in states and cities that perform reviews of deaths among women within a year of the end of a pregnancy. The goal of MMR is twofold: to prevent maternal death and to put in place recommendations that support health and wellness during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. Most MMRs in the US operate at the state rather than the local level. 47 states, the District of Columbia, New York City, and Philadelphia, have an existing MMR.
Unique to FIMR is the inclusion of family interviews - personal narratives bereaved mothers share to provide insightful information about their experiences before, during, and after the death of their babies. These confidential stories are considered by the Review Team in the aggregate; and when combined with clinical reviews of de-identified local cases of fetal and infant deaths, they help inform local findings and recommendations.
The National Center, in collaboration with MP3 Health (Dr. Magda Peck), is incorporating storytelling into the FIMR process. In fall of 2020, a Storytelling Collaborative was launched across 5 sites with a second cohort of 6 teams to run November 2021 to February 2022. Augmenting local storytelling capacity and strategic use of stories may help FIMR teams shift conversations about recommended solutions from personal responsibility and individual behaviors toward upstream services and systems improvements. AMCHP introduced strategic storytelling at the MMR Information Application (MMRIA) Users Meeting (MUM), highlighting opportunities to strengthen the power of data to prevent maternal mortality. An experienced FIMR interviewer and MMR abstractor/key informant interviewer will share her experiences how the storytelling work may have changed her approach to narrative creation.
Stories can become additional tools for humanizing data, changing stuck narratives, and influencing decision makers and public opinion. The addition of strategic storytelling into our approaches can augment understanding of complex MCH challenges and lift up the silenced or unheard voices of people most impacted. When MCH practitioners, policymakers and partners develop shared appreciation, appetite, and aptitude for storytelling, together we can become more effective in changing hearts and minds and translating our data into action for greater health and equity.

Abbreviated Description: Story telling can bring a greater awareness to the need for services and systems level change. Stories will shift the conversation from personal responsibility and behavior to upstream solutions and systems improvements. Current FIMR and MMR teams can strengthen their capacity to obtain and use family interviews (stories) to make a difference. Inclusion of the voices of mothers and families who have experienced a loss will honor their experiences and move teams toward being fully committed to health and racial equity. In summary, elevating MCH stories may kindle even greater commitments among teams and partners to champion health and racial equity in their communities.