Child Fatality and Fetal Infant Mortality Review

Child Fatality Review

The Child Fatality Review Board (CFR) envisions a Maryland where preventable child injuries are eliminated. Preventable injuries is the number one cause of death in children in the United States.

Purpose

The mission of CFR is to review child injuries to understand the circumstances around those injuries and to recommend strategies to prevent future child injuries.

Fetal Infant Mortality Review

The Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) is a community-based, action-oriented program designed to enhance the health and well being of women, infants, and families through the review of individual cases of fetal and infant death.

Purpose

The purpose of the FIMR Program is to understand how social, economic, health, educational, environmental and safety issues relate to infant loss on a local level and in turn utilize that information to improve community resources and systems of care to reduce fetal and infant mortality.

The FIMR process consists of 5 components:

  • Case review
  • Community action
  • Grief and bereavement support
  • Maternal interview
  • Records review

Process

The process begins when the program is notified that a fetal or infant death has occurred. The FIMR Program receives referrals from hospitals, the Maryland Vital Statistics Administration, case management programs and other perinatal providers.

The FIMR process offers communities a way to discover unmet needs to improve the health of mothers and infants.

If you have experienced a fetal or infant death and would like to speak with
a public health nurse, please call 301-600-1733.

Resources

Safe Sleep Task Force

Safe Sleep Task Force group members standing and smiling together

Back row: Dea Dorsey, FCHD; Dr. Barbara Brookmyer, FCHD, Lynn Davis, Child Advocacy Center; Peter Brehm, The Frederick Center; Marianne Hiles, FMH

Front row: Nancy Boyd, Asian American Center of Frederick; Jan Sparks, FCHD, Allison Young, FCHD

Not pictured: Miriam Dobson, FCHD; Rissah Watkins, FCHD; Martha Gurzick, FMH; Pam Holtzinger, FMH; Lynn Cavagnaro, FMH; Jenifer Waters, FCPS; Katharine Long, Office of Child Care