In July, FLOURISH St. Louis hosted an event for local health care leaders to share what we’ve learned from our community listening sessions about the barriers families face in having a healthy pregnancy and baby development. Almost 30 representatives from health systems, community health centers, health insurance plans, local departments of health and other health service providers attended. Together, they heard insights from community members, shared their perspectives and discussed how the information can inform their own organization’s community outreach efforts.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the event:
- Two out of three attendees said the reduction of infant mortality is definitely a part of their organization’s priorities or action agenda. Some of the efforts attendees already had underway include:
- Prenatal “intake days” to connect women with Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food and nutrition services, dental screenings and more.
- Efforts to improve access to prenatal care and preconception/family planning services.
- Advocacy outreach for perinatal regionalization, in which the state establishes systems to ensure high-risk infants are connected with facilities that have appropriate technology and specialized health providers.
- Development of diversity and inclusion initiatives.
- Creation of a behavioral health and maternal substance abuse program with a multi-disciplinary approach incorporating social services, nursing, family medicine and job skills.
- Most attendees’ organizations were already involved in some form of infant mortality reduction effort. However, three out of four said they were definitely interested in becoming more involved after the session, including becoming a FLOURISH St. Louis cabinet member, helping collect data to inform the initiative’s work and educating their co-workers about infant mortality and the initiative.
- Three out of four attendees said the session motivated them to learn more or to share/use what they learned at their own organizations.
- For next steps, attendees recommended FLOURISH St. Louis:
- Continue to gather feedback from community members about their needs.
- Increase access to data that can inform their organization’s outreach efforts.
- Continue to build a growing body of stakeholders across industries.
Important partnerships with fields like education, transportation and employment were highlighted as those most likely to help create lasting change for moms and babies in our region.
- Attendees stated that they valued the information and insights from the community listening sessions and the resulting recommendations. For future events, they are interested in discussing the impact of institutional racism and toxic environments on infant mortality; seeing more detailed information on causes for premature births, especially in highly impacted areas; and brainstorming how to address the psycho/social issues and trauma moms face.
