2025 MO PQC Maternal & Infant Symposium
Event Details
Tuesday, October 28, through Thursday, October 30, 2025
Location
Adams Pointe Conference Center
1400 NE Coronado Drive
Blue Springs, Mo. 64014
Hotel Information
Courtyard by Marriott Kansas City East/Blue Springs
1500 North East Coronado Drive
Blue Springs, Mo. 64014
Reserve your room by Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Register
While Missouri is noted to have continued poor maternal-infant outcomes, there is a growing movement of passionate providers, communities and stakeholders working boldly to address the care needs of mothers and infants, to improve not only their health, but their health care experience. Concurrently, the maternal-infant workforce in Missouri has never had a greater need for support in developing and sustaining staff; integrating roles that support the emotional and social needs of mothers, infants and families; and learning rapidly how to implement effective, efficient and fiscally viable models of care that not only improve maternal-infant health but also benefit the workforce and clinical operations. This first of its kind event in Missouri seeks to engage clinical providers and leaders, quality professionals and executive leaders invested in maternal-infant health, community care providers and leaders, patients and families, provider association staff, policy and reimbursement leaders to present their patient quality and workforce improvement work, to engage in networking activities to support rapid spread and scale of effective interventions and care models and to support skill building for clinical providers and teams. If you desire to learn from those leading this work, share your innovative strategies with others, strengthen your skills and capacity as a provider, and be part of the growing Missouri movement to achieve the mission of the MO PQC – Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies, Healthy Missouri – then this is an event not to be missed!
Agenda
- 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Registration Open
- 12 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch
- 1 – 4:30 p.m. | Afternoon Workshops
- Ask Me 5: Building Your Skills to Address Missouri’s Top 5 Causes of Maternal Mortality
- Presenters: Niraj Chavan, M.D., MPH, SSM Health; Karen Florio, DO, MPH, MU Health Care; and Traci Johnson, M.D., University Health
- Integration of Community Worker Roles into Clinical Care Settings to Improve Maternal-Infant Outcomes
- Presenters: Kelly McKay-Gist, MSW, LMSW; Tommy English, MPH, CPH; and Atara Estes, ICHW-C, St. Louis Integrated Health Network
- Ask Me 5: Building Your Skills to Address Missouri’s Top 5 Causes of Maternal Mortality
- 8 – 9 a.m. | Registration Opens, Resource Tables Open, Breakfast
- 9 – 9:30 a.m. | Welcome
- 9:30 – 10:15 a.m. | Design and Implementation of a Pregnancy Medical Home Program: North Carolina’s Journey
- Presenter: Kathryn Menard, M.D., MPH, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
- 10:15 – 10:30 a.m. | Networking Break
- 10:30 a.m. – noon | Panel: Postpartum Taskforce Recommendations
- Presenter: Kaitlyn Thomas, Missouri Hospital Association
- Facilitator: Niraj Chavan, M.D., MPH, SSM Health
- Panelists: Kelsey Davis-Humes, D.O., Scotland County Hospital; Gaurav Kulkarni, M.D., Compass Health Network; Marvella Ying, C.D., M-Brace Birthing; and Kim Hawley, LMSW, Whole Parent Foundation
- Noon – 1:15 p.m. | Lunch & Learn Breakouts – The Lived Experience and Impact on Health Outcomes
- Room 1 | Amniotic Fluid Embolisms Through the Eyes of Survivors and Current Facts, Courtney Johnson, Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation
- Room 2 | More Than a Screen: How Lived Experience Shapes Effective Perinatal Mental Health Care, Bekah Elrod, B.S., Mammha
- Room 3 | My Story of Birth Trauma in a Missouri Hospital, Amanda Wilkinson, PMH-C, CLC, MFA, Weeding the Garden
- Room 4 | Voices of Rural Missouri Mothers: Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy, Barriers, and Supports Across the Socio-Ecological System, Sara Bridgewater, MPH, CBS, and Sarah Davis, MPH, MU Extension
- 1:15 – 2 p.m. | Breakout Session #1
- Room 1 | Neonatal Encephalopathy: Recognition and Management, Anjali Anders, M.D., MU Health Care
- Room 2 | The Missouri Maternal Mental Health Mortality Crisis and a Possible Solution, Bridget Galati, D.O., Washington University School of Medicine, Missouri Maternal Health Access Project
- Room 3 | A Bundle Approach to Decreasing Cesarean Surgical Site Infections: Successes and Challenges Over a Four-Year Period, Becky Boedeker, DNP, RNC-MNN, IBCLC, C-ONQS, and Elena Jenkins, BSN, R.N., SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital – St. Louis
- Room 4 | The Maternal Oral Health Connection: Healthy Mouth, Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby, Megan Krohn, DDS, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
- Room 5 | Delivering Hope in Missouri: A Collaborative Model for Rural OB Access, Robin Hogan, R.N., BSN; Kimberly Baker, M.D., Harrison County Community Hospital; and Stephanie Jones, MSN, R.N., RNC-OB, NKC Health
- 2 – 2:30 p.m. | Networking Break
- 2:30 – 3:15 p.m. | Breakout Session #2
- Room 1 |Keeping Families Together Following NICU Admission: A Transition from Open Bays to Single-Family Rooms, Jenine Evinger, MSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, C-ONQS, IBCLC, HCA Centerpoint Medical Center
- Room 2 | Interpreter Services Consult: Motivational Interviewing for Special Populations, Traci Johnson, M.D., and Anahi Primgaard, Ph.D., University Health
- Room 3 | Special Topics in Perinatal Mental Health
- Parental Mental Health: Expanding Care through Peer-led Support Groups, Kim Hawley, LMSW, and Emilia Mense Caby, Whole Parent Foundation
- A Model for Addressing Mental Health in Lactation Practice, Amanda Wilkinson, PMH-C, CLS, MFA, Weeding the Garden, and Alisa Williams, IBCLC, MSN, R.N., Momentum Lactation
- Room 4 | Integrating Doulas into Clinical Settings
- Making Hospitals Doula Friendly, Ta’Mare Banks, MSN, R.N., SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital – St. Louis
- A Doula Integration Approach to Improving Maternal and Infant Outcomes, Jason Posley, MHA, Community Health Improvement, BJC Health System
- Room 5 | Addressing Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis in Missouri
- Syphilis on the Rise: What Every Pediatric Provider Needs to Know, Amruta Padhye, M.D., MU Health Care
- Partaking in Missouri’s Syphilis Elimination Strategic Plan, Allie Bodin, MPH, CPH, Missouri Public Health Institute
- 3:15 – 3:30 p.m. | Networking Break
- 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. | Compassion as Strategy: Transforming Care, Culture and Connection in Maternal-Infant Health
- Presenter: Richard Bottner, DHA, PA-C, FACHE, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare
- 4:30 – 5 p.m. | Closing Remarks
- 5 – 6:30 p.m. | Evening Reception (heavy hors d’oeuvres and cash bar)
- 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. | Registration Opens, Resource Tables, and Breakfast
- 8:30 – 9:30 am | When Birth Becomes Trauma: Understanding PTSD After Childbirth
- Presenter: Sharon Dekel, PhD, MPhil, Harvard Medical School and Postpartum Traumatic Stress Disorders Research Program
- 9:30 – 9:45 a.m. | Networking Break
- 9:45 – 10:30 a.m. | Breakout Session #3
- Room 1 | Comparison of Prenatal Complications and Birth Outcomes in a Community Birth Center, Kathryn Istas, DrPH, MPH, Saint Luke’s Health System/BJC; Kendra Wyatt, CEO (retired); and Lindsey Wilson, DNP, CNM, New Birth Company
- Room 2 | Beyond the Birthing Room, Birth Workers Preserving Families, Ronke Faleti, Korédé Foundation
- Room 3 | From Donor to Delivery: Expanding Human Milk Access Across the Continuum of Care, Sarah Long, IBCLC, The Milk Bank
- Room 4 | The Creation and Implementation of a Fourth Trimester Integrative Transition Center: The FIT Center, Stephanie Shorey, WHNP; Karyn Fowler, M.D., FACOG, MHCM; and Tierra Dean, FIT Center
- Room 5 | Bridging the Gap: Mobile Integrative OB Care for Rural Patients, Jenna Hicks, R.N., BSN, B.S., MBA, Christina Bravata, Ryann Allen, and Cammie Wine, R.N., IBCLC, Citizens Memorial Hospital
- 10:30 – 10:45 a.m. | Networking Break
- 10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | Risk Stratification and Care Management: Utilizing an Updated Notice of Pregnancy Referral to Improve Maternal-Infant Outcomes for Medicaid Beneficiaries
- Facilitator: Sue Kendig, J.D., WHNP-BC, FAANP, SSM Health
- Panelists: Abigail Barker, PhD, Medicaid Office of Transformation; Karyn Fowler, M.D., FACOG, MHCM, SSM Health; Sarah Davis, MPH, MU Extension; Emily van Schenkhof, MPH, Children’s Trust Fund; and Kelley Peters, Home State Health
- 12:15 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch and Learn Breakouts – State and Regional Efforts/Payment Models
- Room 1 | Group Prenatal Care: How to Implement and Be Reimbursed, Kelly McKay-Gist, MSW, LCSW, St. Louis Integrated Health Network
- Room 2 | Upcoming MO HealthNet Endeavors, Lori Melvin, BSN, R.N., MO HealthNet, and Adam Saunders, Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture
- Room 3 | Innovations in Rural Services for Healthy Start Participants, Cynthia Dean, Missouri Bootheel Regional Consortium, Inc.
- Room 4 | Notice of Pregnancy and Risk Screening, Amanda Fahrendorf, MO HealthNet
- 1:30 pm | Adjourn