CASE STUDY
Eliminating Infant Mortality in Hamilton County, Cincinnati
DC Design identified the needs of the Hamilton County community to develop Cradle Cincinnati's 5-year strategic plan aimed at eliminating Black infant mortality.
Social System: Healthcare
Client type: Non-profit Organization
Deliverable: Strategic Plan, Journey map
THE PROBLEM
In the United States, Black babies are 2-3 times more likely to die than white babies.
The disproportionate mortality rates for Black babies in the United States is surprising and jarring. Infants born to Black women are over twice as likely to die relative to those born to White women. 8.9 babies died for every 1,000 who were born in Hamilton County, Ohio, from 2013-2017, putting it among the worst counties in the country.
THE PROJECT BRIEF
How might we further reduce the infant mortality rate?
Cradle Cincinnati—a collaborative network aimed at shifting racial disparities in birth outcomes—successfully reduced infant mortality by 42% over 5 years. To continue this effort, they hired us to conduct in-depth research focused on identifying the needs of the community, and develop a 5-year strategic plan that the organization can utilize to further reduce the infant mortality rate in Hamilton County.
OUR APPROACH
Centering Black mothers’ perspectives
In order to understand the challenges that lead to increased infant mortality, we ensured that people with lived experience of the issue i.e. Black mothers are centered throughout the research and design process. Through in-person and virtual interviews and focus groups, we spoke to mothers, including those who have experienced infant loss to learn about your motherhood journeys before, during and after pregnancy, gained insight into the challenges they overcame and identified what contributed to a healthy experience.
DC Design believes that utilizing a multi-stakeholder approach is imperative to identifying the gaps and opportunities in a given ecosystem. We invited partners, family members, community health workers, medical professionals and funders to share their experiences with mothers and their perspectives on what’s working and what is not.
We also hosted community co-design sessions, where birthing people, partners, social service and medical professionals, funders and other stakeholders came together to listen to Black mothers’ stories and generate ideas on addressing the identified challenges of the infant mortality ecosystem.
THE RESULTS
Through the community-centered research engagements, we learned Black infant mortality cannot be addressed without keeping four critical areas at the forefront of Cradle Cincinnati’s programming. They are:
● Strengthening Black women’s mental health
● Galvanizing support systems
● Improving access to basic needs
● Increasing doctor-patient trust
These leverage points became the foundation of the rest of our work. We developed a 5-year strategic plan for Cradle Cincinnati, including goals, objectives and strategies that the organization must utilize through their work, and recommendations alluding to how different stakeholders can work together to change the status quo for maternal and infant care in Cincinnati.
LEARN MORE
Social problems are complex. They cannot be solved overnight. Our clients come from different backgrounds and are focused on confronting a diverse range of issues, but one thing that unifies them is the decision they’ve made to reach for outcomes that are better than “good enough.”
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