On May 10th, 2018 at the Charles H. Wright Museum in Detroit, the Detroit Institute for Equity in Birth Outcomes held its first-ever conference, “In Pursuit of a Baby-Friendly Detroit: Affirming the Value of Women.” Professionals in nursing, social work, public health, community health, and more gathered to help define how we can work collectively to reduce disparities in birth outcomes in our community.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, addressed the crowd with her presentation on “Tools for a National Campaign Against Racism.” Dr. Jones is a past president of the American Public Health Association and current Adjunct Professor at Emory University School of Public Health and Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Jones is a family physician and epidemiologist whose work focuses on the impacts of racism on the health and well-being of the nation.  She seeks to broaden the national health debate to include not only universal access to high quality health care, but also attention to the social determinants of health (including poverty) and the social determinants of equity (including racism).

The conference also offered sessions on the role of fathers in improving birth outcomes, marijuana and breastfeeding, the Mommy-Friendly Detroit® Initiative, and more. We were happy to be a part of this conference, and continue to grow partnerships that allow us to improve the health of our Detroit moms and babies. Check out photos from this conference below!

Dr. Jones gives her Keynote Address, “Tools for a National Campaign Against Racism.”

Chinwe Obianwu, MPH, of Institute for Population Health, speaks at her panel “Paternal Child Health – Promoting Infant Health and Wellbeing by Engaging Fathers.”

Kiddada Green, MAT of Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association, and Jaye Clement, MPH, MPP of Henry Ford Health System, lead their World Cafe activity for the Mommy-Friendly Detroit Initiative ®.

Conference attendees collaborate during the Mommy-Friendly Detroit ® activity.

A panel session, “Higher Education, Higher Risk? Investigating Black White differences in the Maternal Education-Birthweight Association” and “Why Do Black Women Experience Higher Rates of Preterm Birth?”

Gaylotta Murray, with Great Start Collaborative Wayne County, speaks about the MY BABY: Born Ready Social Media Campaign, which was produced in partnership with WIN Network: Detroit and the Detroit Regional Infant Mortality Reduction Task Force.