Please note:

• Any co-presenters will also need to register and provide a professional bio, credentials, and headshot on their own registration.

Birthing Hospital Registration (Limit 1 per hospital)

Doulas receive a reduced rate to attend the conference. Please note you must be a doula to be eligible for this offer.

*Must be a Doula to attend*

Join us for Bloom & Belong, a joyful evening created to honor the wisdom, dedication, and heart doulas bring to their communities. This reception brings together birth workers from across the state for connection, celebration, and rejuvenation.

The evening features a formal dinner and keynote address that speaks to the evolving landscape of doula care—recognizing the challenges of the work while uplifting the collective strength and impact of the profession.

Whether you are a seasoned doula or newly entering the field, Bloom & Belong offers a space to be inspired, appreciated, and surrounded by those who share your commitment to compassionate, person-centered support.

We look forward to celebrating with you.

This engaging presentation will explore the critical intersection of race, healthcare disparities, and education within the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Attendees will gain insights into how a race-conscious approach can effectively mitigate health inequities and enhance patient outcomes. These concepts may also be applied to other health care professions.

The Michigan Medicine Early to Home pilot program created a pathway for well postpartum and newborn patients to be discharged early with 1-2 follow up same day home visits with a Certified Nurse Midwife that included completing newborn screenings and maternal/newborn assessments. 

This session makes the case that fatherhood engagement is a maternal–infant health intervention: when fathers/partners are meaningfully included (prenatal to postpartum), families tend to see improvements in maternal mental health, birth outcomes, infant feeding, infant development, and family stability/healthcare engagement.

This session blends film, data, and live audience participation to examine how maternal health outcomes particularly for Black women and birthing people are not accidental but rather highlight systemic issues across healthcare systems. By connecting evidence, policy decisions, and human impact, this session challenges leaders to move beyond awareness and toward bold, actionable system redesign.

This presentation will summarize findings from two qualitative program evaluations in which feedback was received from Doula Mentors as well as Newly Trained Doulas who participated in the Mentorship Programs. Strengths of the two versions of the program will be shared as well as opportunities for improvement for those planning doula mentorship programs moving forward.

An overview of vaccination in Michigan.

This session explores the emotional, relational, and systemic impacts of NICU hospitalization, and how rehumanizing care can improve outcomes for babies, parents, and providers alike. 

Attendees will learn the intersection of disability, race, gender, and socioeconomic status of patients, the barriers to family planning, practical ways to engage with mothers with disabilities including equipment and language considerations. Presenters will provide information about the spectrum of disability experience, including visible and invisible disabilities, mental health and chronic illnesses.

Birthing hospitals across the United States are continually working toward the 2030 Healthy People goal of reducing cesarean births among low-risk women with no prior births. Low-risk women with no prior birth are defined as having a Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, Vertex (NTSV) pregnancy. The target rate for the United States is 23.6%. Through Lean Management Strategies and Quality Collaborative support, the Bronson Battle Creek team identified tactics that helped exceed their goal of a 10% reduction in 2024 by achieving a NTSV cesarean rate of 21.2% by years end.

Black women continue to experience disproportionately adverse maternal health outcomes both nationally and in Michigan. This presentation draws on qualitative findings from focus groups and individual interviews with Black birthing people across Southeast Michigan, Mid-Michigan, and Mideast Michigan to explore their experiences with hospital-based maternal care during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the postpartum period.

Attendees will learn practical strategies for integrating trauma-informed principles into lactation support across hospital, WIC, and community settings. The session emphasizes culturally responsive, strengths-based approaches that honor families’ lived experiences while addressing disparities in breastfeeding access and outcomes.

You don't need to be a tech expert to use AI. Whether you're a doula, a clinical practitioner, or a community health worker, AI tools can help you brainstorm resources, create targeted communications, and think through support strategies for the families you serve. We'll explore the AI tools that are already reshaping health conversations — in plain language, with hands-on practice built in. You'll get a chance to experiment, ask questions, and leave with real ideas you can use in your work or your life. We'll also dig into the important stuff: why AI can spread misinformation and whose voices often get left out of these technologies.

The session will provide attendees with an update on both state and federal level policy changes including proposed legislation and appropriations impacting maternal and infant health. We will also share timely opportunities for attendees to engage with decision makers. The state portion of the session will be covered by MCMCH and we will invite a federal partner to provide their expertise and knowledge.

Take a deep dive into Black and White MI IMR data over 5 decades highlighting the disparity ratio, survival time lag (a unique data set created by me), how MI has done re achieving Healthy People goals for IM (by Black/White race), why the disparity exist and the discuss what must be done to eradicate the disparity.

Learn how to identify and communicate with elected officials, understand the legislative and budget processes, and define clear policy “asks” related to maternal and child health priorities. The session emphasizes respectful, relationship-based advocacy and equips attendees with tools to stay informed, engaged, and effective throughout the legislative session.

Please select another session.

The?Synergy Of Scholars for Maternal and Infant Health Equity (SOS MATERNITY) Network is a pioneering coalition of 20 institutions across Michigan dedicated to improving maternal and infant health outcomes. This panel discussion will introduce attendees to the SOS MATERNITY Network, expand on the medical and structural interventions implemented, and outline ongoing challenges in perinatal healthcare.

The goal of this presentation will focus on the clinical efficacy of a doula-led model of care, the importance of addressing social determinants of health, and collaborating across plan partnerships, to achieve incredible improvements in clinical and quality outcomes, member experience, and meaningful clinical cost savings.

This presentation includes research conducted to understand the stress and coping experienced by mothers with autoimmune diseases. Educating women, behavioral health staff, medical professionals, families, and communities on how autoimmune diseases affect pre-pregnancy, prenatal, and postpartum care may assist in mitigating associated stressors and increase the timeliness of interventions needed to support healthy maternal care.

This presentation includes research conducted to understand the stress and coping experienced by mothers with autoimmune diseases. Educating women, behavioral health staff, medical professionals, families, and communities on how autoimmune diseases affect pre-pregnancy, prenatal, and postpartum care may assist in mitigating associated stressors and increase the timeliness of interventions needed to support healthy maternal care.

This presentation includes research conducted to understand the stress and coping experienced by mothers with autoimmune diseases. Educating women, behavioral health staff, medical professionals, families, and communities on how autoimmune diseases affect pre-pregnancy, prenatal, and postpartum care may assist in mitigating associated stressors and increase the timeliness of interventions needed to support healthy maternal care.

In this TED-style talk, I will present my personal story of the pressured induction, subsequent injury and birth trauma, and lasting physical impacts that I experienced while giving birth to my first daughter. I will present an overview of the decisions, interventions, red flags, and lack of standard of care that led to me sustaining permanent damage to my pituitary gland, which has left me with a variety of on-going health issues. After 18 months of desperately searching for answers, I was finally diagnosed with Sheehan's Syndrome, an extremely rare birth complication that was, sadly, completely avoidable.

It is CRITICAL for providers who serve the perinatal population to hear survivor stories like these so that we can raise awareness of all the factors, positive and negative, that can contribute to someone's birthing experience in our state. In my case, there were numerous moments where warning signs were not addressed, protocols were not followed, and quality of care fell short. We must hear these hard truths in order to prevent more women from experiencing the birth I had. I also plan to speak about my work as a peer support specialist and coach for the perinatal population, and how recovery and intentional preparation for subsequent births after birth trauma is an opportunity for providers to contribute to a healing birth experience for mothers who have previously experienced trauma.

Untreated postpartum mental health conditions contribute substantially to preventable maternal mortality, including suicide, which accounts for nearly 20% of postpartum deaths. Despite elevated risk during the postpartum period, few accessible, coordinated systems of care exist to support recovery during the critical “fourth trimester.” This presentation will focus on describing the Fourth Tri care model, highlight efforts to expand access through a scholarship-based referral program, and to review findings from parents who have accessed Fourth Tri services.

Doulas are first responders when it come to breastfeeding support. Unfortunetly, the training we receive does not fully prepare us for the demands of that job or to fully triage a challenge, in home, for a family while waiting to see a Lactation professional. We are trained to refer out for all challenges such as pain, baby not latching, suspect of oral or physical abnormality, etc. In the first two weeks of life it is critical that families get good breastfeeding advice and limit traveling out of the house, as much as possible. This leaves doulas in a prime position to support the first 2 weeks of breastfeeding, protect mother's milk supply if challenges come up, and refer out to trusted community lactation consultant.

Through a dynamic, conversational format, presenters will examine both the lived experience of families navigating transportation barriers and the systemic gaps that contribute to missed care, increased stress, and poorer outcomes for perinatal populations. Attendees will explore how community-based and technology-enabled mobility solutions can improve access to care, reduce transportation insecurity, and strengthen trust in healthcare systems.

This paper examines the impact of community-based wraparound services created through Multi-Sector Community Accountability Partnerships (MCAPs) led by community health workers (CHWs). MCAPs increase service uptake and resource utilization by fostering a sense of connection between agencies and community members, thereby improving outcomes.

Presenters will introduce the Obstetrics Initiative, a collaborative of 68 hospitals working to improve obstetrics care quality, outcomes, and equity. We will review OBI’s flagship initiatives, our implementation science-informed approach to quality improvement, and present clinically-credible data from OBI’s unique registry.

This presentation explores the rural landscape of maternal and infant health in Michigan, highlighting key challenges, emerging trends, and the evolving role of Critical Access Hospitals and emergency departments, along with insights from a statewide environmental scan conducted by the Michigan Center for Rural Health.

Maternal and infant health work is unfolding in a defining moment—one shaped by persistent racial inequities, increasing strain on families and providers, shifting policy landscapes, and growing recognition that clinical care alone cannot solve the crisis before us. This keynote will examine the maternal health ecosystem as both a site of challenge and possibility, inviting participants to consider how systems of care can be strengthened when rooted in justice, accountability, cultural humility, and shared humanity.