May, the month we celebrate mothers, launches our eighth annual MICA Month. Standing Up for Those Who Can’t is our theme to advocate and to educate globally regarding maternal nerve injury from childbirth birth awareness. MICA, run by a team of dedicated volunteers, has achieved a great deal since our beginning 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 focus in 2025 is a message of HOPE. We will be discussing the Protocol for Recovery for Newly Injured Moms and Birth Plan for Baby after Childbirth. We are reminded to be Joyful in Hope, Patient in Affliction and Faithful in Prayer. Romans 12:12.
Social Media: MICA has continued to develop its presence on social media. The MICA Month Facebook page has over 850 followers, Instagram has @micamonth 180 followers and the Facebook support group Moms with Femoral, Peroneal, Sciatic Nerve Damage from Labor and Delivery has grown to 2600 members from 60 countries. We added 400 members since May of 2024. Our social media presence during MICA Month is vibrant with 100’s of advocates sharing posts globally with their communities including their favorite parenting Facebook groups.
Website: The website www.nervedamagefromchildbirth.com receives 11,000 views annually with visitors from 90 different countries. It is an invaluable resource we share with every new member to the Facebook support group. Since 2023 we have seen an increase in medical professionals requesting information. In 2020 the Zazzle store opened with a variety of advocacy t-shirts, momma bling and baby attire. All Zazzle Store proceeds go towards supporting the website so please head to the store and purchase your 2025 advocacy t-shirt today!
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 medical team’s most recent publication titled Birth, Postpartum and Home Experiences of Individuals with Lower Extremity Nerve Injury was published in Nursing for Women’s Health in June of 2022. 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: National Foot Drop Awareness Day and Unhindered Steps are ongoing alliances. Unhindered Steps founders Omar Farooq and Samia Sami, MBA,MHA along with Cheryl Parker, DNP,CRNA,RNC-OB co-authored a letter to the editor titled Lower Extremity Nerve Damage During Childbirth: Patient Resources in the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Newsletter in June of 2022. Unhindered Steps mails our advocacy ribbons globally for free and they also wrote an informative brochure designed to educate the medical community about nerve injury. To receive either of these resources please email Unhinderedsteps@gmail.com.
A huge thank you to the MICA Team who gives so selflessly of their time to help so 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 and webmaster, 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 and CCRN.
Please join us in celebrating our eighth year of advocacy for MICA Month 2025 by following us on our Facebook page MICA- Maternal Nerve Injury from Childbirth Awareness Month and on Instagram @micamonth where we will be posting weekly advocacy tips for you to share the MICA Message with your community as we continue to be providing HOPE and 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 role as MICA advocate. She can be reached at maternalnerveinjury@gmail.com.
Nerve Damage from Childbirth 