Six of our MPH students attended the 2020 CityMatCH Maternal and Child Health Leadership Conference, held September 16-18, online. What follows is a post from one of these attendees.
Crysta Meekins, BPH
This year has been one for the books! I would have never imagined that I would be attending the final year of my MPH program virtually, let alone attending a big conference like City MatCH from the comfort of my home.
Although the conference didn’t look like it had in the past, the topics and discussion were impactful, thoughtful, and in tune with the current social climate. My favorite session of the conference was the “Addressing Racism in Maternal and Child Health through a Reproductive Justice Framework”. The panel was filled with powerful women from within the Maternal & Child Health field, including Dr. Joia Crear Perry, Dr. Rachel Hardeman, and Nicolle Gonzales. The amazing energy could be felt through my computer screen. I enjoyed hearing about health equity from the different perspectives and areas of health each of the speakers come from. Dr. Joia mentioned something that I feel is very relevant to my interests and the work that I want to do in the future. She said that we need to eliminate the thought that health inequities are present because there’s something broken about minorities and that such thinking has direct consequences on outcomes for minority birthing women.
The way she worded that was so powerful and has been completely evident from within national mortality & morbidity rates for these groups of women. Overall, the conference was insightful and has me excited to see what my future in MCH holds!Crysta Meekins,
BPH, is a second-year MPH student, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health. She plans to graduate in May 2021. Her interests include sexual & reproductive health and maternal mortality, particularly in the African American population. She also loves coffee, strength training, and Grey’s Anatomy.
