Safe Sleep

Unsafe sleep areas remain a leading cause of infant death. These deaths can be preventable with consistent safe sleep messaging to all caregivers. Remember the ABCDs of Safe Sleep for every nap, every night, every time a baby is put down to sleep.

La Porte County’s FIMR (Fetal Infant Mortality Review)

Emerging as a public health strategy in the mid-1980s, the Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) was created as a response to the alarming increase in the infant mortality rate in the United States. Throughout the country, FIMR is being utilized as an action-oriented community process that continually assesses, monitors, and works to improve service systems and community resources for women, infants, and families. In 2022, La Porte County became the 37th Indiana County to assemble a FIMR team, thanks to spearheading by the PHB Council and funding by HFL.

FIMR teams review the circumstances surrounding the lives and deaths of these mothers and infants, as well as those who are never born (fetal deaths), and then provide these findings to community action teams (CAT), who then work to come up with creative ideas to help improve birth outcomes and reduce infant mortality rates. Research shows that FIMR is an effective perinatal systems intervention as it examines infant mortality in the large context of social, economic and systems factors.

Of note is that all data is de-identified throughout the FIMR process. Names and identifying personal information are removed, as FIMR is not about assigning blame. Rather, it is an examination of circumstances surrounding the death to identify system gaps.

La Porte County FIMR is set to begin meeting monthly. Please contact FIMR Coordinator Peggy Rose at prose@laportecounty.org with questions.

Learn more about Indiana FIMR.

Highlights

Safe Sleep Kick-Off

EventOn September 29, 2022, more than 50 people gathered at HFL’s Conference & Learning Center for our first Safe Sleep Kick-Off Event. PHB Council members, HFL Board members, representatives from the Indiana State Health Department, PHB partners, elected officials, media, and more came together to celebrate PHB’s efforts and share resources. Additionally, the event marked the official launch of La Porte County’s FIMR team and allowed HFL and the PHB Council to introduce the Diapering Together To Raise Awareness challenge.

Read more about the event in the press release.

Have questions? Want to learn more?

Reach out to Mary Wellnitz, Special Projects Manager, at mwellnitz@hflaporte.org.