A number of our MCH students attended the 2021 CityMatCH conference, online in December. What follows is a post from one of the attendees.
By Victoria Utria, BS
CityMatCH 2021 was a seamless virtual conference that provided me with a deep dive into MCH. My main takeaway was that public health professionals have a duty to engage with policy from all angles: research, formation, recommendations, and opposition.
A specific but important example of the policy work that’s required of us is in the regulation of endocrine disruptive chemicals: chemicals that negatively interact with the endocrine system causing disease and disability. The effects of exposures during gestation and early childhood can last throughout the lifecourse, affecting brain development and heart disease and more. Exposure to adult women has been linked to PCOS and breast cancer. Endocrine disruptive chemicals also negatively affect male fertility. Controlling these exposures are wholly an MCH issue.
Drs. Ghassabian and Trasande of the NYU Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards presented the specifics of gestational exposure and global regulation efforts. Public health requires us to see problems through to the end – if not as individuals then surely through team effort, passing the baton along, while making sure we finish the race.
I also attended policy sessions on expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage, emergency preparedness, and how to get involved in MCH policy. I was very happy to learn that five states have successfully expanded and fifteen have passed legislation to seek expansion of Medicaid.
Lastly, in my public health experience thus far I had never seen Indigenous Americans centered nor elevated— CityMatCH corrected this and has set a standard. “Don’t come to us because you think we have the most problems. Come to us because we have the answers.” The keynote speaker, Abigail Echo-Hawk, left us with the task to learn how to perform small population analyses and apply them, and to become aware of data collection limitations and correct them. American Indians, Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders are of the largest growing groups of multiracial individuals. Not having an option on collection forms that specifies AI or AN or PI, and does not permit multi-selection, is erasure. Ms. Echo-Hawk ended with a call for systems change, advocacy— policy!
Victoria Utria, BS, is a first-year MPH student concentrating in Maternal and Child Health. She comes to the field with a background in biomedical engineering, and hopes to work in MCH implementation science and community-lead design. She is looking forward to her first Carnival season in New Orleans!
