Fetal, Infant, Child & Maternal Mortality Review (FICMMR)
and Injury Prevention
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FICMMR Deliverable Due Dates

October 15, 2024

  • FICMMR County Operational Plan, Or
  • Memo of Understanding (MOU) from counties sharing a review team 

November 1, 2024

  • All 2023 Fetal, Infant, and Child Reviews must be completed and entered into the CDR database system
  • NOTE: Beginning with 2020,  maternal deaths are now reviewed by the statewide MT Maternal Mortality Review & Prevention Program funded by the CDC ERASE MM Grant.

FFY 2025 FICMMR Training Call Deliverables

All training calls will be held via Zoom technology.  Attendance is only required for two calls.  The others are optional.  It the choice of the county FICMMR Coordinator which ones to attend.

  • December 4, 2024 (9:00am - 10:15am)
  • February 26, 2025 (9:00am - 10:15am)
  • June 18, 2025 (9:00am - 10:15am)
  • August 27, 2025 (9:00am - 10:15am)

FICMMR is a statewide effort to reduce preventable fetal, infant, child and maternal deaths.  While the program is statewide, it is powered locally by multi-disciplinary county teams.

Review team members are comprised of health and social service professionals, law enforcement, coroners, tribal representatives, and experts from other fields as indicated in the Fetal, Infant Child and Maternal Mortality Prevention (FICMMP) Act.  FICMMR is the implementation of this legislation.

The FICMMP pre-curser legislation was first authorized in state statute in 1997, it is now delineated in MCA 50-19-401 through 50-19-406. The FICMMP Act provides strict confidentiality requirements and death reviews are conducted in closed meetings.  See the ‘Fetal, Infant, Child and Maternal Mortality Prevention Act’ link on this website.

The prevention of fetal, infant, child and maternal deaths is both the policy of the state of Montana and a community responsibility. These deaths can be viewed as a sentinel event - which is a measure of a community's overall social and economic well-being and health.

FICMMR review teams share and discuss comprehensive information on the circumstances leading to a death, if it was preventable, and the response to the death. The process identifies critical community strengths and needs - in order to effectively address the unique social, health, and economic issues associated with negative health outcomes which may have caused or contributed to the preventable death.   

The goal of the FICMMR program is to reduce risk factors, and decrease the number of preventable deaths through educational outreach and evidence-based and best-practice prevention initiatives.

Confidentiality of all information is strictly maintained and is addressed in statute. A review team member who knowingly uses information obtained in the review process for a purpose not authorized, or who discloses information in violation of the FICMMP statute, upon conviction is guilty of a misdemeanor which is punishable as provided in the law.

The Fetal, Infant and Child Mortality Prevention Act was passed during the 1997 Legislative Session through the approval of House Bill 333. The first six provisions of HB 333 have been codified as §§ 50-19-401 to -406, MCA. HB 333 amended existing law to facilitate the Act.

The provisions of the FICMMP Act are as follows:

(1) allow teams to access health care information without the need for a signed consent;
(2) allow teams to access criminal justice information through the county attorney or a person designated by the county attorney;
(3) set out the permissible functions of mortality review teams;
(4) set out minimum requirements on membership and management of mortality review teams;
(5) provide penalties for the unlawful release of confidential information by members of mortality review teams; and
(6) mandate that the Montana Initiative for the Abatement of Mortality in Infants (MIAMI) be coordinated with mortality review teams

Additional References:

§ 41-3-205, MCA (Teams may receive child protection records.)
§ 44-5-303, MCA (Teams may receive criminal justice information.)
§ 50-16-525, MCA (Teams may receive health care information.)
§ 50-19-323, MCA (Coordination of programs with MIAMI.)
§ 50-15-122 (7), MCA (Disclosure of information from vital records or vital reports – rules.)

View the complete FICMMP Act #50-19-401-406.

Through a data agreement with the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention, fetal, infant, and child death data is entered into a secure, database  case reporting system, Version 5.1. (does not include maternal death data).

Approved users may access Version 5.1, via the link below:

CDR website for uploading case reviews

For More Information Contact:
Maddie Diederichs, State FICMMR Coordinator
Family and Community Health Bureau
PO Box 4210, Helena, MT 59620
Phone: (406) 444-4131, Fax: (406) 444-2750
E-mail: madison.diederichs@mt.gov