FIMR

Infant mortality is the most sensitive index we possess of social welfare

(Julia Lathrop, Children’s Bureau, 1912 – 1920)

The Escambia County Healthy Start Coalition is honored to serve as the local Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) team for District 1 (Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, Okaloosa County, and Walton County) in collaboration with The National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention. FIMR strives to address the factors and issues that affect infant and fetal deaths by reviewing individual cases to understand the systemic issues in the district.

The review process consists of medical and social record audits, family interviews [to not only obtain information, but to help ensure families are supported after a loss], and the creation of a de-identified Case Summary. A Case Review Team [consisting of medical and community professionals] meets monthly to review and analyze the Case Summaries and makes recommendations for systemic level changes in our local community. A Community Action Group then works to implement the recommendations of the Case Review Team.

FIMR

Ensuring that all babies survive and thrive should be the concern of the whole community; it is an issue too multidimensional for responsibility to rest in any one place. Fetal and infant deaths are sentinel events that illustrate system and resource issues. Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) teams are diverse, multidisciplinary groups of professionals who come together to examine de-identified individual cases of fetal and infant deaths to understand the “how” and “why” surrounding the death to prevent future deaths. The parent/family interview includes the voices of those who have lost an infant and offers information not available through routine quantitative methods, equipping teams to make more effective community recommendations. Reviews lead to identification of local factors contributing to fetal and infant mortality. View the FIMR Logic Model in PDF or editable PowerPoint format. (Source)

If you or someone you know has been impacted by a fetal or infant loss, please consult our resources below:

Memory boxes: With the help of generous community donors, Healthy Start can offer memory boxes to any family who has experienced a stillborn or infant loss. The memory box is put together by Project Sweet Peas

One-on-One Counseling and Support Services: While not licensed mental health professionals, Healthy Start maintains a list of support services, both virtual and in person, for families experiencing a loss. This includes support groups and one-on-one counselors who specialize in maternal health or grief. Please download this pdf

Annual Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day: Healthy Start annually joins the country in honoring those we have lost on October 15th, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. For information about this year’s event, check out our calendar.

Facebook Page: Healthy Start maintains Light in the Darkness: Healthy Start Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support. A Facebook page that seeks to be a resource for families who have suffered a loss, be it at 12 weeks gestation or 12 months old. We hope to provide compassionate understanding that families are not alone and that there are others who have been in your shoes. Please visit and like @LightinthedarknessHealthyStart on Facebook.

For more information about any of the information listed above including resources, events, or FIMR meetings, please contact Claire Kirchharr at Claire@healthystart.info