New York City Success Story: Using Social Media Influencers to Educate Communities

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has been reviewing maternal death cases since January 2018, starting with all pregnancy-associated maternal deaths of mothers who died in New York City. One of the key recommendations from the review of 2017 deaths was to identify and disseminate existing materials and resources that educate pregnant people about postpartum warning signs, with a focus on postpartum depression and hypertension.  The Health Department supported the implementation of this recommendation through the dissemination of innovative, culturally relevant social media content authored by three social media influencers with mass followers who are Black and Brown women of reproductive age. These influencers shared their own birth stories on social media with messages about warning signs and symptoms of maternal mortality (MM) and severe maternal morbidity (SMM), with a focus on depression and hypertension. This effort led to the creation 23 posts, published across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and personal blogs and were viewed by over 17,000 people online. The success of the work has buoyed other Health Department programs to explore ways of continuing to partner with these influencers.