Changing Missouri’s Birth Story: The 2025 Maternal and Infant Health Convening

9 – 10 a.m. | Registration

10 – 10:15 a.m. | Opening Remarks

10:15 – 11:15 a.m. | Plenary Session, Healing the Healers: Building Resilience to Avoid Compassion Fatigue and Burnout in the Maternal Health Workforce – Sharise Nance, LSCW, CCTP

11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Networking Break & Lunch

12:30 – 1:15 p.m. | Missouri State Policy Updates – Abby Barker, PhD Washington University in St. Louis and MO HealthNet Transformation Office

1:30 – 2:15 p.m. | Breakout Session 1

Nourishing Healthy Starts
Natasha Woodard, MS, MSW, CHLC, Operation Food Search

Empowering Missouri Mothers: Tackling Substance Use Stigma to Improve Health Equity and Care
Bryce Starr, MS, UMKC-Institute for Human Development; Missouri Maternal Health Action Network

Early Head Start Doula Services
Amber Snyder, ICBD, Central MO Community Action Early Head Start

Hospitals are tracking the “Big 5” Social Drivers of Health – Now What? How can MO change the birth story by moving beyond identifying Z-Codes to reimbursing for person-centered care?
Janessa Spears & Sarahbeth Winn, Consilience Group

Designing Postpartum Dietary Recommendations: A User-Centered Approach Evidenced to Improve Breastfeeding Outcomes
Najjuwah Walden, PhD Candidate, NIH TL1 Predoctoral Trainee, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

2:30 – 3:15 p.m. | Breakout Session 2

Mercy’s BRAVE Clinic: MFM, Psychiatry & SUD Program
Kimberly Brandt, DO, Mercy

Sweetest Nectar
Candice Ward, Sweetest Nectar LLC

Benefits of Doula Support – It goes way beyond the bump!
Amanda Rhodes, It Takes a Village

Contraceptive Counseling 101: Best Practices for Providing Person-Centered, Quality Care
Kirsten Palovick, MA, Missouri Family Health Council

Newborn Screening
Lori Swartz, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services

3:15 – 4 p.m. | Break/Visit Resource Hub

4 – 6 p.m. | Poster Walk Reception (Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be provided; cash bar will be available)

6 p.m. | Dinner on Your Own

8:00 – 8:30 a.m. | Registration & Breakfast (Visit Resource Hub)

8:30 – 8:45 a.m. | Welcome Remarks

8:45 – 10:00 a.m. | Rural Maternal Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Programs from Across the U.S.: A Panel Discussion on Innovation and Successes

Facilitator: Barb Gleason, MSN, CHW, Facilitator, Project Director of the HRSA RMOMS Grant for the Bootheel Perinatal Network
Krystal Richards, MBA, RMOMS Grant Project Director for Intermountain Health
Morgan Luoma, MHA, Data Coordinator and Community Health Program Manager for Intermountain Health
Colleen Durocher, MA, Executive Director for the Rural OB Access & Maternal Services (ROAMS)
Caroline Zimmerman, MPP, Project Director for the Maine Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Network

10:15 – 11:30 a.m. | Missouri Optimizing Postpartum Care Task Force: A Panel Discussion

Facilitator: Niraj Chavan, MD, MPH, FACOG, FASAM, Medical Director of the Women and Infant Substance Help (WISH) Center at SSM Health
Gaurav Kulkarni, MD, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the Compass Health Network
Kelsey Davis-Humes, DO, Family Medicine, Scotland County Memorial Hospital
Kim Hawley, LMSW, Postpartum Support International State Coordinator – Missouri
Marvella Ying, BS, CD, CBE, M-Brace Birthing LLC

11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. | Networking Lunch/ Visit Resource Hub

12:45 – 1:15 p.m. | Community Conversations and Networking

1:30 – 2:15 p.m. | Breakout Session 3

Missouri State Lactation Foundation
Amanda Rhodes, Missouri State Lactation Foundation

Black Maternal Health Through History: Weathering the Thin Line Between Survival and Systemic Denial
Sharla Smith, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas Birth Equity Network

From Isolation to Connection: Building Sustainable, Community-Driven Maternal Care in Missouri
Ronke Faleti, Korédé House

Integrating Black Men and Fathers into the Maternal and Infant Health Solutions
Kyra Betts, Dads to Doulas

Families ConnectED – Establishing Support through the Pediatric ER
Bradd Anderson, ParentLink

2:30 – 3:15 p.m. | Breakout Session 4

Nine Losses, One Mission: Bridging Gaps in Perinatal Mental Health and Health Equity
Rachell Dumas, A Light After Nine

The Role of Crisis Nurseries in Promoting Maternal and Infant Wellbeing
Lindsay Kyonka St. Louis Crisis Nursery

Universal Nurse Home Visiting Model-Family Connects-Springfield-Greene County
Bre Tyger & Ruth Brown, Springfield-Greene County Health-Family Connects

Statewide Initiatives to Eliminate Syphilis
Allie Bodin MPH, CPH, Missouri Public Health Institute

The Doula Lab: How a Non-Profit led by Community Based Doulas is Changing Birth and Parenting in the Metro East
Charity Bean, The Doula Lab & Marvella Ying, BS, CD, CBE, M-Brace Birthing LLC

3:30 – 3:45 p.m. | Closing Remarks