Mayor Muriel Bowser's National Maternal and Infant Health Summit

Join Mayor Muriel Bowser at the fourth National Maternal & Infant Health Summit!

The 4th annual Mayor Muriel Bower’s Maternal & Infant Health Summit will feature panel discussions, community spaces, breakout sessions, and a virtual resource expo dedicated to connecting District residents with local and national resources and supports needed to families have what they need to thrive.

This year, we will have the opportunity to identify what respectful means in the District, promote gender-inclusive and patient-centered reproductive healthcare, and share investments in proven supports for birthing people, babies, and their families.

DC residents will be able to attend our annual summit in-person at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on September 15, 2021, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. or live stream it via Facebook and YouTube.

2:00 pm - 2:15 pm
: Welcome & Context Setting

Mayor Bowser will kickoff the Summit with remarks and her own reflections on past Summits and the Maternal & Infant Health Initiative. She will speak to the work happening in the District around maternal and infant health.

Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, Director of DC Health, will speak to investments and innovation happening in the District around maternal and infant health.

Dr. Faith Gibson Hubbard, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs, will welcome Summit attendees by offering reflections from last year’s Summit and provide a summary of investments made in the perinatal health space throughout the Bowser Administration.

Speakers: Mayor Muriel Bowser, Dr. Faith Gibson Hubbard and Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt.

2:15 pm - 3:15 pm:
Panel 1:
Maternal & Infant Health: Where We’ve Come From and Where We’re Going

This panel will open this year’s Summit. Leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sector will discuss the importance of cross-sector partnerships in improving maternal health outcomes in the District. Speakers will highlight plans, priorities, and commitments on the horizon that will guide their work in the District.

Speakers:

• 
  The Honorable Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington DC
  
• Moderator: Stacey Brayboy, Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs, March of Dimes
  
• Angelina Spicer, Comedian, Actress, and Activist
  
• Dr. Robyn Jones, Senior Medical Director, Women’s Health, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, Johnson & Johnson
  
• Dr. Lola Okito, Attending Physician, Children’s National Division of Neonatology at Children’s National

3:15 pm - 3:30 pm
: Transition time
: Washington, DC Health Innovation QuickFire Challenge – Announcement of Awardees

Johnson & Johnson Innovation together with Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), working with the Washington DC Economic Partnership, has launched the Washington, DC Health Innovation QuickFire Challenge designed with the aim to help address the chronic healthcare and morbidity challenges similar to those faced in underserved communities within the District of Columbia, and develop ways to help achieve health equity. The DMPED to introduce the JLabs Quickfire Challenge and awardees as we transition between panels.

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
: Panel 2:
How Reproductive and Birth Justice Can Guide Quality Care

DC Health released their perinatal health framework back in 2018, outlining seven priorities to eliminate preventable maternal and infant death and improve birth outcomes, but we know there’s more to do for District parents. Reproductive and birth justice are inclusive frameworks for community-centered maternity care, programs, and policy. These frameworks can drive systems-level change and make the individual-level impact we seek for all parents. Speakers will discuss how care providers and health systems can achieve high-quality, respectful care and services to benefit birthing people and non-birthing parents.

Speakers:

• 
  Moderator: Jamila Perritt, MD, MPH, FACOG, President and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health
  
• Aza Nedhari, LM, CPM, MS, Executive Director of Mamatoto Village
  
• Rafat Abbasi, MD, FACOG- OBGYN, Columbia Fertility Associates
  
• Noelene Jeffers, PhD, CNM, IBCLC, Co-chair of The National Association to Advance Black Birth
  
• Ebony Marcelle, CNM, MS FACNM, Director of Midwifery at Community of Hope

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
: Community Spaces

Given the desire for connectivity in years past (and stay at home orders being in place during last year’s event), this year we are working to create spaces for those with common identities and experiences in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs offices and community-based organizations. We will have affinity spaces for those identifying with any of the following groups: those who’ve experienced perinatal loss, LGBTQ+, teen/young parents, families with disabilities, fathers, and grandparents and older caregivers.

Partner Offices & Organizations:

Perinatal Loss: PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy; LGBTQ+: Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs; Teen & Young Parents: DC NEXT! (DC Primary Care Association); Families with Disabilities: We, the Motherhood; Fathers: Mayor’s Office on Fathers, Men, and Boys; and Grandparents and Older Caregivers: Department of Aging and Community Living.

On September 16, 2021, the summit will be virtual-only from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

We take the health and well-being of our community very seriously and will be adhering to all local and national COVID-19 guidelines, which include indoor masking requirements for all people regardless of vaccination status.

Be sure to check in with us on Facebook or dcmaternalhealth.com for updates and important information.

#DCMaternalHealth

Follow Mayor Bowser on Social Media

Twitter: @MayorBowser | Instagram: @Mayor_Bowser | Facebook: facebook.com/MayorMurielBowser

Follow the Maternal & Infant Health Summit

Twitter: @MomHealthDC | Website: dcmaternalhealth.com

For reasonable accommodations, please contact Thrive by Five at [email protected] or call 202-727-1750.

Host or Publisher Executive Office of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (EOM)