Community Interventions to Improve Equity in Birth Outcomes

1. Community Interventions to Improve Equity in Birth Outcomes Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition 1996-2010 FROM PROGRAM TO POLICY

2. Partnership Building a broad-based community coalition • Health care providers, clinics, hospitals • Non-profits and grassroots community groups • Government • Faith Leaders • Community volunteers • Elected officials • Schools / Universities Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition

3. Philosophy • Vision - All babies born in Forsyth County will be healthy and thrive. • Mission - Reduce infant mortality by educating the community about how to prevent infant death, and advocating for systems and policy changes that support healthy birth outcomes. Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition

4. Infant Mortality Causes of death Premature Birth Birth Defects Low Birth Weight SIDS Unplanned Pregnancy Drugs & Alcohol HIV / STDs Teen Pregnancy Smoking Contributing factors Poor Nutrition Single Parenting Infections Domestic Violence Late or no Prenatal Care Abuse & Neglect Stress Inadequate Women’s Wellness Stress Root Causes Racism Poverty Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition updated 11-3-04

5. Looking Inward • Creating good process • Create rules for operation • Identify evidence based strategies • Strategic planning • Builds clarity in vision • Educate core advocates • Create strategic plans IMRC partners create strategic plan

6. Moving Forward • Creating community interventions • Review Infant Mortality Tree and ask • Where have we been? • Where do we need to go? • Where do we want to go? • Where can we go? • Choose risk factor • Create 2-year advocacy plan IMRC Partners Rank Risk Factors

7. Celebrate Success ! • IMRC Spring Luncheon 2010 • Celebrate 17P Campaign. • Announced Preconception Health Campaign. • Teddy Bears for visual impact. • Create media opportunities. Keynote Speaker with volunteers IMRC Activity - What does 61 look like? Local mom’s story of 17P

8. Systems & Policy Initiatives • Smoking and Babies Just Don’t Mix • Emergency Contraception Campaign • Preventing Repeat Preterm Births – 17P • Preconception Health • Advocacy at State and National Conferences Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition

9. Smoking and Babies Just Don’t Mix Social Marketing Campaign

10. Smoke-Free Restaurants www.HelpOurBabies.org

11. Emergency Contraception Campaign • Goal— • Increase demand and access to affordable emergency contraception. Process— • Community Survey • Tools for providers AND consumers. • Educational sessions to providers. • Model policy / protocol. Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition Emergency Contraception Poster

12. Emergency Contraception Tools Pharmacy Referral Slip - Spanish Education Slip - English • Emergency Contraception: • can prevent pregnancy AFTER unprotected sex. • Is NOT “the abortion pill.” • Works best within 24 hours after unprotected sex— but can work for up to 5 days • HOW TO TAKE PLAN B • Either take both emergency contraception pills together OR take one pill and then take the second pill 12 hours later. • After taking Plan B, use condoms as a back up birth control method for the rest of your menstrual cycle. • Emergency contraception pills are a BACK UP to regular birth control and do not protect against STDs. • For more information, go to: www.not-2-late.com Plan B: Emergency Contraception

13. Preventing Repeat Preterm Births –17P Workshops, provider toolkits, in-service education, and mom-to-mom DVD to build capacity among healthcare providers to utilize 17P for preventing repeat preterm births.

14. Hope for the Future – Building Community Support for Families who Have Lost an Infant A one-day conference at United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church built grief counseling skills for 150 faith leaders, health care providers, mental health counselors, and social workers. Coalition volunteers United Metropolitan Parents share stories of infant loss Chaplains share Hispanic/Latino resources

16. Conference Highlights Fleda Mask-Jackson, from When the Bough Breaks presents the impact of race and gender on infant mortality. Kweli Walker, Black Infant Mortality Reduction Resource Center, discusses infant mortality initiatives underway in New Jersey. Carmen Strickland of Winston-Salem SouthSide Clinic discusses the Centering Pregnancy Prentatal Care Model. Jennie Joseph, Director of the Birth Place and Founder of the Nubian Health Network, promotes the role of African-American midwives to improve parity in birth outcomes.

17. What’s Next ? • FC Preconception Health Campaign • Creating new dialogue about root causes for infant mortality – poverty and racism • Social Justice – Community responsibility for healthy women vs individual choice

18. Walk a Mile to Save Our Babies Mayor Joines challenges volunteers to keep making infant mortality a priority; bereaved parents share stories and thank volunteers for coming.

19. Walk a Mile to Save Our Babies 120 Volunteers walked a mile loop with 48 empty baby strollers through downtown Winston-Salem in memory of the 48 babies Forsyth County lost in 2009

20. Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition Debbie Mason, MPH, CHES Forsyth County Department of Public Health Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition Health Policy Unit 799 N. Highland Avenue Winston Salem, NC 27102 336-703-3260 masonda@forsyth.cc www.HelpOurBabies.org