MCH Student eNewsletter

#UMNMCH student Julieta Barbiero (she/her) wrote this reflection on her path to public health and her work with the Minnesota Department of Health.

Kiela Moreno, from the HRSA-funded Center of Excellence in MCH at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the newest author for the Health Equity Edition of MCH Leads, the student-led national MCH trainee blog. In her blog post, Kiela applies MCH competencies 4 (Critical Thinking) and 6 (Negotiation and Conflict Resolution) to her practicum experience as an intern with CityMatCH, where she assisted with planning logistics for the 2022 national conference and supported the work of the Perinatal HIV Task Force. “From this experience, I learned how potential conflicts could arise in terminology and concepts in the interdisciplinary setting, and how these situations present a unique opportunity for us to understand different perspectives. As we embark on this journey to center the experiences of the population we hope to serve, we must prioritize their experiences and feedback.” Continue reading more about Kiela’s health equity efforts here!

UMN Extension, along with its partners (including the Center), is excited to announce the launch of The 40-Day Project, which provides self-care and wellness resources to Somali postpartum parents during the first 40 days, including how parents can:

• Learn about the postpartum period and why self-care is important

• Watch videos about self-care, parenting infants, mental wellness, and more

• Sign up to receive daily text messages about wellness and self-care

• Listen to birth stories and learn from other parents

• Build social connections by creating a support plan

Providers will:

• Learn language by accessing discussion scripts to support new parents

• Download educational resources to share

• Access screening tools for postpartum mental health concerns

• Access crisis support

• Learn more about the postpartum period

Kudos to MCHer Mollie Kohler, who is deployed to Extension and helping to make this work happen!

-Learn more about this project in Extension Family Development’s newsletter

-Sign up to receive daily text messages to support your postpartum care

-Share your feedback (parents and providers)

The Center is proud to co-sponsor the following events:

February 2, 2023 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT

Dr. Junia de Brito is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. de Brito is a social-behavioral epidemiologist, with interdisciplinary training in nutrition and dietetics, maternal and child health, and quantitative and qualitative research methods. Her research is focused on investigating the interplay of structural and social determinants of health and health-related behaviors that contribute to obesity and cardiometabolic health disparities among children of racialized and other marginalized groups. As the mini-lab further explores the positive deviance research approach with Dr. de Brito, attendees at this workshop will learn how to:

1. Describe the prevalence of childhood obesity in the U.S. and which populations are disproportionately affected by childhood obesity;

2. Explain the relationship between parent feeding practices and weight outcomes in children;

3. Define the positive deviance approach to childhood obesity;

4. Describe how the positive deviance approach to childhood obesity can be used in epidemiological investigations.

-Register

February 8, 2023 | 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM CDT

We are excited to welcome back Dr. Drissa Toure, who will discuss monitoring and evaluation skills for global MCH programs. This Workshop is designed just for MCH and PHN students only; please do not forward. Students funded by the Center or the Leadership, Education, and Training (LET) Program in MCH Nutrition are required to attend.

-Join

February 21, 2023 | 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM CDT

The Maternal and Child Health Interest Group (MCHIG) will host a three-part virtual book club series focused on The Tenets Of Reproductive Justice. The first session will focus on the first tenet: the right to have a child. This series is grounded in the experiences of people working and living closest to reproductive justice and health equity initiatives. It aims to provide a trauma-informed, welcoming, inclusive, and healing experience, especially for those with complex experiences with pregnancy, birth, caregiving, parenting, and abortion.

Register soon–space is limited and registration is currently only open to MCH and HPM students!

February 23, 2023 | 1:30 PM - 5:45 PM CDT | Virtual & In-Person

This half-day event features plenary panel presentations, panel discussions, and a poster session on women’s health research. It draws interdisciplinary women’s health researchers, healthcare providers, students, and community public health professionals for a day of learning, networking, and research dissemination. Participants come from all over the Twin Cities metro, rural Minnesota, and neighboring states. The conference cost is $5, and scholarships and discounts are available for students.

Speakers for the keynote "Reproductive Autonomy and Coercion: A Holistic, Multilevel Perspective" include MCH Program alumni Asha Hassan.

-Register

-Submit Abstract (Due February 6)

-Submit Work-in-Progress (Due February 6)

Planning to attend in person? So are MCHIG board members Kailee and Estefanía, if you want to connect with them please fill out this form to let them know! Kailee and Estefanía look forward to connecting with you at the conference! Questions? E-mail MCHIG at sphmchig@umn.edu or join the MCHIG Slack event channel.

Want to volunteer? Add to your resume by signing up here.

March 17, 2023 | 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM CDT | Virtual & In-Person

This year’s event will focus on public health solutions for mental health. Experts, including this year’s speaker Dr. Gilbert Gonzales, will discuss effective and sustainable policies, practices, and programs to achieve mental health equity among intersectional identities. Hosted by the SPH's Health Equity Work Group.

-Register

Thursday, April 6, 2023 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CDT

The student groups from the UMN's (MCHIG), UIC's, and SLU's HRSA-funded Centers of Excellence in MCH are excited to host a panel of alumni representing Regions V and VII! Please save the date and time on your calendars; more details coming soon!

April 27, 2023 | 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM CDT

Personal narratives are powerful tools for researchers and practitioners alike. They can be used to educate, influence, train, advocate, and reflect in the public health field. Harnessing the power of these narratives is an important skill. This session on digital storytelling from the StoryCenter will be a brief introduction to the process of gathering and presenting personal narratives for public health use. As a leader in the global storytelling movement, the StoryCenter has decades of experience helping organizations and individuals bolster their storytelling skills and we are excited to feature them at the Mini-Lab.

-Register

1. 20th Minnesota Fathers and Families Network (MFFN) Annual Summit

February 6-7, 2023 | Wellstone Center, St. Paul, Minnesota

2. UMN School of Public Health’s Health Equity Work Group General Meeting

February 9, 2023 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CDT | HSEC 2-138 and Zoom

3. Strengthening Infertility Services in Title X Programs

February 23, 2023 | 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM CDT

4. Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

March 7-10, 2023 | Chicago, Illinois

5. MinneMUDAC 2023: Student Data Science Challenge

March 25, 2023 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT | Minneapolis, Minnesota

6. 2023 Public Health Conference of Iowa

March 28-29, 2023 | Scheman Building, Ames, Iowa

7. Research Day

April 4, 2023 | 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM CDT | Mayo Memorial Auditorium (4th floor)

Each month, we highlight MCH Leadership competencies for our students to learn more about. Ethical behavior in our MCH workforce includes conduct associated with generally accepted principles and values, including leadership ethics such as honesty, cultural competency, and responsibility.

-Learn more about MCH competencies

• Learning Course: Shifting Power in Practice–Strategies for Centering People with Lived Experience When Making Evidence-Based Decisions

• Podcast: Parenting Done Differently–Parents with Disabilities

• At-Home Test: Order Free Covid Test

• Self-Guided Course: EQIPP–Bright Futures Infancy to Adolescence Course

• Learning Program: MCH Navigator Micro-Learning

• Competition: 3-Minute Thesis Competition
  

• Black History Month

• National Cancer Prevention Month

• National Children's Dental Health Month

The aims of the Center include providing continuing professional education in maternal and child health (MCH) and support for students in online and in-person MCH graduate programs at the University of Minnesota. Center and MCH Program faculty are involved in research and training in infant and child health, adolescent health, family health, health disparities, reproductive health, and women's health.

The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number T76MC00005 for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health in the amount of $1,725,000. This information or content and conclusions of our outreach products are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

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