UIC MCH Students Attend the 2023 CityMatCH Conference
From September 20th through 22nd, CityMatCH hosted their annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The theme of the conference was Reconnecting and Transforming MCH: A Journey of Healing, Rebirth, and Growth. There were more than 740 maternal child health professionals and students in attendance, including two UIC students: Danita Hingston, MPH in MCH, and Relicious Eboh, MPH, a PhD (c) in MCH Epi. We asked Relicious and Danita to share some of their experiences at the conference.
Why did you want to attend CityMatCH? How did you think the experience would benefit you professionally and personally? Heading link
I wanted to attend CityMatCH to network with other MCH Epi students and hear about the latest research in the field. The experience would benefit me professionally by allowing me to interact with different state and local health leaders across America. I learned about what potential job/internship opportunities I could apply for in the future. – Relicious Eboh
I was interested in attending CityMatCH as it would allow me to network with MCH professionals around the country, learn about the different career options in the field, and expand my knowledge on current MCH issues. It was beneficial to learn about people’s job roles and their journeys […] for example, I met one professional from Indiana who does safe sleep simulations with artificial babies. I also learned about an innovative program from North Carolina that provides new mothers with ‘I just gave birth’ bracelets, which can alert people around them if an emergency occurs during postpartum. – Danita Hingston
What were some of the presentations or activities you participated in? What was your favorite moment or story? Heading link
As a CHS student, I was also interested in sessions focusing on community-based approaches to improving maternal and child health outcomes. There was a presentation that stood out to me, which was about culturally relevant infant safe-sleep interventions for the African-American community. The speakers highlighted how most of the mainstream approaches tend to overlook cultural nuances and there is a need for meaningful engagement with community members about how to address infant mortality. – Danita Hingston
I participated in the “Investing in Women’s Mental Health” as a moderator. I had no prior moderating experience, and it was fruitful to be able to be a part of the conversation on how state and local health departments are addressing perinatal mental health. – Relicious Eboh
What is one takeaway from your experience that you are bringing back to the UIC CoE-MCH? Heading link
My takeaway from the conference is to never forget the importance of the individual when you are attempting to assess the population. – Relicious Eboh
It was also wonderful to meet with the Tulane MCHers- I liked how close-knit they were and that they socialized outside of campus. We were inspired by that, and we have decided to plan activities with our other MCH peers at UIC. – Danita Hingston.
You can learn more about CityMatCH, including their upcoming fall 2024 conference, Reaching New Heights, Strengthening MCH Across Generations, at https://www.citymatch.org/.
