Our goal: Reduce pregnancy deaths and complications with a focus on helping Black and rural moms.
Maternal Health Facts
We need to do better for moms.
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Maternal deaths are twice as likely in the US as in other similar countries.
Source: The Commonwealth Fund
Currently in Michigan, 80 mothers die each year during their pregnancy, the birth, or within 1 year postpartum.
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Over half of these deaths may have been prevented.
You probably know someone who had a serious pregnancy complication. They are common, affecting 1 out of 50 mothers.
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Black and rural moms are even more affected.
Michigan Rates of Death in Pregnancy and Postpartum, 2015-2019 | Comparison by race
Black Mothers
11.1 deaths per 1 million live births
White Mothers
6.2 deaths per 1 million live births
Icons represent 1 death per 1 million live births.
Black mothers also have the higher chances of complications, likely due to the combined effects of systemic racism and sexism.
Source: Lister et al.
Michigan Rates of Death in Pregnancy and Postpartum, 2015-2019
Comparison by rurality of residence
Rural Mothers
8.4 deaths per 1 million live births
Suburban Mothers
5.9 deaths per 1 million live births
Urban Mothers
4.8 deaths per 1 million live births
Rural mothers are also more likely to give birth outside a hospital and be admitted to the ICU during the birth. This might be because they can't get to timely care, since 2 out of 3 maternity care deserts are rural counties.
Sources: Harrington et al., March of Dimes
Apps are a Potential Solution
Apps are easy to use and they work.
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Easy to access: Apps can reach more people than other approaches- no need to go schedule any appointments or a translator.
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Personalized: We can ask people about their concerns, symptoms, and history so that we can show people information most relevant to their personal health.
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Private: People are more willing to share sensitive information that affects their health.
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Easy to implement: Apps are also easy to scale up and change to fit a variety of settings and users.
Community input is essential.
The people affected by a problem know best what solutions are needed. That is one reason that this project is a partnership between Michigan State University and Flint Innovative Solutions. We are also involving community members via:
Community app design
We are hosting two appathons, one for the greater Flint area and one for rural areas. The appathons are competitions where teams of community members will design content for the MI MOM app, with the winning team receiving $5,000. No special skills are required with the use of the CIAS platform- just access to a computer.
Read more about:
Community advisory board (CAB)
We rely heavily on our CAB members, a group of expert community advisors. They helps us by:
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Providing ideas and insight about app content
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Reviewing all proposed app content for a variety of factors, including accuracy, tone, relevance, respectfulness, and ease of understanding.
A full listing of our CAB members and the organizations they represent is on Our Team page.
MI MOM Design Features
We designed the app to be used by pregnant and postpartum people, their supporters, and their healthcare providers. Our approaches include:
Removing Barriers to Care
​We know that pregnancy and the year after birth are stressful. Getting medical care should be easy. We want to help through:
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Active patient outreach through text messages and live-chat with a community healthcare worker
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Personalized content for each patient and their specific health concerns
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Immediate referral to crisis management resources
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Streamlining the referral and scheduling process
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Finding providers who will do virtual visits or help finding transportation and childcare for in-person appointments
Whole-Health Approach
Pregnancy and postpartum health isn't just about going to the obstetrician. moms and their babies need to be fed, housed, and safe. We hope to refer patients to resources and programs for:
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Any health concerns, even if they seem unrelated to pregnancy
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Mental health, such as counselors and support groups
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WIC and other nutrition programs
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Income and housing assistance
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Legal resources, particularly around family law and custody
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Intimate partner violence prevention, such as shelters
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Quitting smoking and treatment for other substance use
Combatting Bias
Healthcare bias is responsible for poor pregnancy and postpartum health. We hope to reduce this bias by:​
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Providing training for healthcare providers to help them provide better care, with an emphasis on care for Black and rural women.
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Surveying patients about the quality of their healthcare, anonymously. We will present these results to the healthcare providers so that they can see and correct any bias occurring in their practice.
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Coaching for patient advocacy, so that patients feel more confident during appointments and will be less likely to be ignored.