Mothers x Mothers
In the fall of 2021, as COVID-19 vaccines first became available for younger children, we heard the importance of addressing vaccine-related fears for mothers and caregivers. Working in partnership with IDEO.org and Refugee Women’s Network (RWN), we created Mothers x Mothers, a peer health meetup hosted by mothers, for mothers to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine.
The resulting toolkit helped organizations host peer gatherings where mothers could gather in community to discuss relevant health topics. The elements of the toolkit are informed and tested by mothers’ experiences, and create the conditions to have a judgement-free health conversations among mothers.
Created By Mothers, For Mothers
This work was sparked by the insight that mothers often have strong influence on health decisions that affect the whole household. We realized that helping mothers access reliable information about the vaccine could have a massive impact.
In addition to guidance from RWN leadership, we collaborated with four women co-designers from the Somali and Eritrean communities in Clarkston, who planned and facilitated the first-ever Mothers x Mothers gathering. As co-designers they worked with us from design to implementation to evaluation, and the their professional development was specifically included among the initiative’s goals.
The Power of Health Meetups
At the heart of the work we found a need for a safe space to ask difficult questions, and seek guidance to navigate the uncertainties of the pandemic.
Meetups are informal gatherings of people with shared interests or identities. Mothers x Mothers is a community health meetup for mothers to connect with each other and talk about key health issues facing their families, starting with the COVID-19 vaccine. It is a time for mothers to:
Campaign Elements
Plan
The planner consists of a set of checklists that any organization can use to spark thinking and account for the logistics ahead of hosting a meetup.
Promote
Create digital or print invites tailored to the communities you are serving. Fun and friendly, they serve as a first look into the meetup.
Prepare
This guide provides an a detailed look at the pre-meetup activities, instructions and facilitation tips for the meetup presentation slides, and how to conduct a post-meetup interview.
Present
The slides include speaking notes, and there is also an agenda, sign-in sheet, and other downloads to make your event successful. Follow-up with mothers with WhatsApp scripts, videos, flyers and more.
Available languages
In the spirit of equipping communities to host their own meetups, the WhatsApp scripts, promotional materials, presentation slides, concern cards, and other resources were translated and culturally validated in English and 16 high-priority languages.
Impact
“The program built enough community trust to make future interventions possible, as evidenced by the continuing Mothers x Mothers gatherings that focus on health topics beyond COVID-19.”
-Frontiers in Public Health
During the initial pilot, which included 8 gatherings with 7 distinct linguistic and ethnic groups, 75% of unvaccinated participants decided to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Since its launch in the spring of 2022, the tools have been adapted and launched by Restoration for All, Congolese Patriot, Birth in Color, Afghan Health Initiative, the Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resource Center (EMBARC). These organizations all expanded the meetup from only being about COVID-19 vaccine confidence to a space where women can speak about important health topics sourced from the community.
Mothers x Mothers was featured in a 2024 Frontiers in Public Health article titled “It spreads like wildfire”: mothers’ gatherings for vaccine acceptance.
Topics Sourced from the Community
Restoration for All, Birth in Color, and Congolese Patriot all expanded the MxM gathering from only being about COVID-19 vaccine confidence to a space where women can speak about important health topics sourced from the community, like OBGYN visits.
Train the Trainee Approach
Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resources Center (EMBARC) is using a ‘train-the-trainer’ model to support mothers in Iowa to hold MxM gatherings, with the aim of training 200 facilitators.
Actively Creating a Safe Space
Various partners highlighted the importance of actively creating psychological safety at the beginning of a gathering. To this end, Restoration for All combined the gathering with a cultural healing circle.
Bringing MxM to Community Celebrations
Some organizations chose days that already call for celebrations to host Mothers x Mothers gatherings. Afghan Health Initiative hosted a gathering alongside a Ramadan Feast, Congolese Patriot held a Valentine’s Day event, and Restoration For All chose Mother’s Day for one of their gatherings.