May, the month we celebrate mothers, launches our fifth annual MICA Month. Standing Up for Those Who Can’t is our theme to advocate and to educate globally concerning maternal nerve injury from childbirth awareness. MICA, run by a team of dedicated volunteers, has achieved a great deal since our launch in 2018. We are very proud of the many resources we have developed that are now available to any mom globally suffering from a nerve injury. Our advocacy focuses this year on maternal mental health and specific positions during childbirth as the primary cause of nerve injury. Please celebrate with us our many achievements from the past five years. For I will restore you to health and heal your wounds declares the Lord. Jeremiah 30:17
Social Media: MICA has continued to develop its presence on social media. The MICA Month Facebook page has over 700 followers and the Facebook support group Moms with Femoral, Peroneal, Sciatic Nerve Damage from Labor and Delivery has tripled in size to over 2,000 members with approximately 30 new members per month since 2018. We are also active on Instagram @micamonth with 120 followers. Our social media presence during MICA Month is vibrant with 100’s of advocates sharing posts with their communities including their favorite Mom’s Facebook groups.
Website: The website www.nervedamagefromchildbirth.com receives 11,000 views annually and is an invaluable resource we share with every new member to the Facebook support group. In 2020, the Zazzle store opened with a variety of advocacy t-shirts, momma bling, and baby attire. This May a new section on maternal mental health will be added to assist injured mothers with their emotional recovery from nerve injury.
Medical Team: Our talented medical team has made major strides in raising awareness for nerve injury and developing protocols for the prevention of future injuries. In 2020 the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecological and Neonatal Nursing (JOGNN) published two articles written by our team: Lower Extremity Nerve Injury in Childbirth: AWHONN Practice Brief Number 11 and Integrative Review of Lower Extremity Nerve Injury During Vaginal Birth. The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) has endorsed the new protocols for prevention of nerve injury and the medical team continues to share these at national medical conferences in the United States.
Partnerships: Allard USA, a manufacturer of orthotic and prosthetic devices, will collaborate with us again in 2022 to share the MICA message. Please follow Allard on Facebook and Instagram @Allard USA and look for their MICA posts and stories featuring our moms. Unhindered Steps and National Foot Drop Awareness Day are ongoing alliances, and we are grateful to A Midwife Nation for their coverage of LENI (lower extremity nerve injury.)
A huge thank you to the MICA Team who gives so selflessly of their time to help many moms navigate through nerve injury recovery. Our volunteer team members include: Molly Carey (Facebook group support, writer), Omar Farooq (Co-Founder of Unhindered Steps, writer), Emily Kleine (Graphic Design), Jodi Manny (Facebook group support, writer), Reagan Smutny (Website creator, Facebook group support, Social Media: NDFC on Instagram and LinkedIn), Samia Sami (Co-Founder of Unhindered Steps, Facebook group support and writer), and Paula Wroble ( Founder of the Facebook support group). Medical Team volunteers: Cheryl Parker, DNP, Martha Sleutel, PhD, RN, CNS, C-EFM and Jennifer Webb, RN, BSN, CCRN.
Please join us in celebrating our fifth year of advocacy for MICA Month by following us on our Facebook page, MICA- Maternal Nerve Injury from Childbirth Awareness Month, and on Instagram @micamonth. We will be posting weekly advocacy tips for you to share the MICA Message with your community as we continue to be Standing Up for Those Who Can’t.
About the Author: Martha Valentine Tutrani is a proud grandmother of two, including a precious Nib (nerve injury baby) and a Pleni (protected lower extremity nerve injury) baby. Her daughter Molly suffered nerve injury from labor and delivery in 2016. The tremendous challenges the family faced while pursuing diagnosis and treatment for Molly inspired her family to start the first MICA Month in 2018. Martha holds an M.Ed. in Dance Education and believes that her background as a classical ballet and Pilates instructor, as well as leadership roles in arts administration, equipped her perfectly for her new role as MICA advocate. She can be reached at maternalnerveinjury@gmail.com.
Nerve Damage from Childbirth 