2023 CityMatCH Conference Experience
In this blog post, we share the responses of our MCH trainees about this year's CityMatCH conference. CityMatCH is a national membership association comprising maternal and child health (MCH) programs and officials from city and county health departments representing urban populations in the United States.
What was your favorite session? Heading link
“A highlight for me was hearing from two of the twelve women – Loretta Ross and Toni M Bond – who founded the reproductive justice movement. Dr. Bond said that “intersectionality is our process, and justice is our goal”. Loretta Ross said, “When many people think different thoughts and move in the same direction, that’s a movement.” – Dr. Naomi Thyden, Postdoctoral Trainee
“My favorite session was the Indigenous data and practice keynote.” – Dr. Alisa Velonis, MCH Faculty
“My favorite session was the Role of Health Departments in Abortion Access: Perspectives from Chicago.” – Kiela Moreno, MPH MCH
“My favorite session was Loretta Ross’ keynote address about calling in the calling out culture. It really puts into perspective how as public health professionals need to be mindful of how we correct injustices.” – Relicious Eboh, PhD MCHEPI
“My favorite conference session was Strengthening the Community-Based Doula Workforce. This session focused on the work being done by the Columbus, OH based doula organization, ROOTT (Restoring Our Own Through Transformation). This community-based doula organization demonstrates the impact of not only involving communities in research, but in practice, to truly make a difference. By focusing solely on Black pregnant persons, training community members as doulas, and providing competitive wages and benefits for their staff, ROOTT has improved maternal and infant mortality rates in the population they serve, and has partnered with local hospitals to improve maternal services. This session was such a strong example of the importance of community-based work in empowering families, the workforce, and the community at large.” – Kristen Lawrence, MPH MCH
“My favorite session was a symposium titled “Strengthening the Community-based doula workforce”. The session was led by ROOTT, a reproductive justice organization from Ohio that is addressing the concerns and needs of Black Women and Women of Color surrounding maternal and infant health through doula services, training, research, and education. Particularly interesting to me was their discussion on how structural racism and institutional policies and practices (such as Jim Crow, mass incarceration, and redlining) are impacting social determinants of Black maternal health (e.g., education, income, access to care, housing), leading to increased maternal and infant mortality rates and socially defined inequities in these outcomes. ” – Lisa Haen, PhD MCH
What was something new you learned during the conference? Heading link
“Something new that I learned during the conference was CDPH’s current reproductive roadmap to advance equity in the field of reproductive health.” – Kiela Moreno MPH MCH
What is a major takeaway from your experience in attending CityMatCH? Heading link
“A major takeaway from my experience in attending CityMatCH (my first one, and my first professional MCH event!) was just how smart, dedicated, passionate, and caring the people are in this field. And beyond that, how hard people are working to implement positive changes in their communities and our larger society. I attended a session where CDPH was sharing their role in abortion access in the city of Chicago, and both the presentation as well as the questions from attendees in the session really highlighted this for me. The presentation was so thoughtfully constructed in a way that made it clear how other health departments and public health professionals can advance reproductive health initiatives no matter where they are located, and it felt like the entire room was working collaboratively to support attendees who had much more challenging paths to navigate. There were so many different people connecting after the session to do more individualized work together, and it truly felt more like a working group rather than a conference presentation. It made me realize that my previous conference experiences always felt more focused on the presenters getting accolades for their presentations and work, instead of using the conference to truly collaborate and build a better future. I’m not sure I quite count myself as an MCH professional yet, but I was incredibly inspired by the folks I was able to meet and learn from at CityMatCH.” – Nikki Gottleib, MCH Staff
“One of my favorite things about CityMatCH was the opportunity to meet and chat with UIC folks that I haven’t had the chance to meet yet due to being mostly remote still! I also enjoyed connecting with prior colleagues from various jobs and activities from previous years-some I had never met in person.” – Caitlin Meyer Krause, PhD MCHEPI
“It was great experience for me to do the poster presentations, especially because I’ve only been able to present posters at virtual conferences so far. I found it motivating and fun to talk in person about the research we’ve done and exchange and discuss ideas with peers.” – Lisa Haen, PhD MCH
Which topic areas do you want to learn more about after the conference? Heading link
“I want to learn more about building emergency preparedness to specifically cater to unique issues faced in MCH populations (emergencies that threaten breastfeeding routines, care visits) .” – Kiela Moreno, MPH MCH