Our annual spring conference is an opportunity for learning that supports you and your clients, is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and is a chance to see the faces of old friends and new members of our community.
This year’s conference will again be online via zoom (but see below for in-person option). The conference will be held on Friday March 21st, from 8:30am to 4:30pm PST. We encourage everyone to attend in real time in order to access live question and answer periods; however, recordings will be available after the conference to those who have registered.
RETURNING THIS YEAR: The option to purchase a ticket to attend the live watch party in Portland, OR!
***Choose this add-on when you buy your ticket*** The watch party will be held at Ready Set Grow in NE Portland, and will feature free bodywork mini-sessions, pastries and coffee, a potluck lunch, in-person-only raffle prizes, and IN PERSON CONNECTION! Spots are limited; don’t miss this opportunity to connect in person!
CEs are included with your registration. We will be awarding CEs from various accrediting organizations. ACNM, Naturopathic, and OMC CEs have been applied for and are pending.
Students receive a 50% discount.
BIPOC birth workers: sliding scale starting at $20.
How to support autistic people through pregnancy, birth and early parenting: Perspectives from research and practice from an autistic researcher and an autistic midwife
Sara King, PGDip and Stacey-George Hemes
This presentation will be led by Sara and Stacey, who are both autistic mothers. We will discuss the current research and practice in maternity care for autistic people. We will share our experiences from our research, our practice and our own personal experiences of pregnancy and birth as late diagnosed autistic women. This will be supported by practical case study examples as scenarios to explore together with delegates, with the aim of improving understanding and practice to benefit autistic people in pregnancy, birth and early parenting.
Sara King, PGDip
Doctoral Researcher with the Autism Centre for Education and Research (ACER)
Maternity Autism Research Group (MARG) Vice Chair
Sara is a Doctoral Researcher studying for her PhD with the Autism Centre for Education and Research (ACER) at the University of Birmingham. Her PGDip (Autism Adults) explored the autistic experience of pregnancy and birth. Her PhD further developed this by exploring autistic women and birthing people’s experiences of maternity services and maternity staff understanding and experience of supporting autistic people. Sara is autistic, with other autistic and neurodivergent family members. She works as an autism trainer and specialist autism mentor and consultant and is committed to learning more about autistic people’s experiences to help improve services. Sara has developed and delivered training for a wide range of organisations in different sectors including for social workers, teachers, mental health practitioners and NHS staff. For the last 8 years, she has facilitated topic-based peer support discussion groups for autistic women for local organisations that provide specialist autism support.
Stacey-George Hemes
Registered Midwife
Maternity Autism Research Group (MARG) Secretary
Stacey-George studied midwifery at the University of Hertfordshire. She has a keen interest in supporting autistic women during pregnancy and childbirth and has contributed widely to the subject area. As well as being a strong advocate for tailoring care to better serve autistic birthing people, Stacey-George is also making strides of change in improving autistic student and practicing midwives’ experiences.
Low-Dose Aspirin for Preeclampsia Prevention: The Crucial Role of Midwives
Sarah Vaillancourt DNP, WHNP-BC, RN and Lindsay du Plessis, DrPH, MPH
The vital role of midwives in fostering clinical and community partnerships is key to preventing preeclampsia, reducing the risk of preterm birth, and promoting overall maternal and infant health. In this presentation, we will explore the role of low-dose aspirin in preventing preeclampsia and associated preterm birth, the importance of universal preeclampsia risk factor screening, and the need for patient and community engagement to support LDA uptake and adherence
Sarah Vaillancourt DNP, WHNP-BC, RN, works at CMQCC as Quality Improvement (QI) Clinical Lead in where she focuses on outpatient perinatal QI improvements, and provides clinical support to the Low-dose Aspirin to Prevent Preeclampsia and Preterm Birth Initiative. Prior to working at CMQCC, she worked as a women’s health nurse practitioner providing outpatient sexual, reproductive, and perinatal health in a Federally Qualified Health Center in the California Central Valley. Further, she acted as clinical lead for organizational maternal care QI projects and provided clinical policy updates and clinical guide content for the organization. Sarah completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice with a specialty in Public Health Nursing from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her doctoral work included Title X service implementation and evaluation, outpatient perinatal quality improvement, and implementation of social health screening and adverse childhood experiences screening in reproductive-age women. She also has her Master of Science in Nursing with a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Specialty from Vanderbilt University.
Lindsay du Plessis, DrPH, MPH, joined CMQCC as Community Engagement Lead in 2022. In her role, she organizes and implements outreach activities in partnership with local, regional, state, and national agencies to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. She leads the Low-Dose Aspirin (LDA) to Prevent Preeclampsia and Preterm Birth Initiative, with a focus on engaging Community Based Organizations (CBOs). Prior to joining CMQCC, Lindsay worked as a Research Scientist at UCLA planning and implementing community-partnered research projects on obesity control, tobacco control, HPV vaccination, and other preventative health measures. She conducted pragmatic implementation trials, in real-world settings, to reduce the disproportionate burden of disease in medically underserved groups. Dr. du Plessis has an extensive public health background addressing health disparities, collaborating with community partners, and implementing interventions as well as prevention strategies that empower and improve outcomes among marginalized populations. She completed her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Community Health Sciences with a minor in Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Lindsay brings a unique perspective to her work in community health and maternal health, and her personal experiences have fueled her passion for advocating for health and well-being, especially in underserved communities.
Fertility Evaluation, IVF and Perinatal Considerations in Midwifery Care
Megan Jacklin, MSN, CNM, ARNP
Fertility testing, evaluation and common treatment options; in-vitro fertilization overview; and caring for patients in the perinatal setting who have undergone IVF treatment.
Megan completed her undergraduate studies at University of California, Irvine where she obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing in 2009. As a registered nurse, she specialized in perinatal nursing including: childbirth education, labor, birth, postpartum, newborn care, and high-risk obstetrics. In 2015, she expanded her perinatal discipline to include the sub-specialty of fertility medicine where she served as a fertility nurse coordinator, onco-fertility liaison, and third-party coordinator for six years.
In 2020, Megan earned her Master’s degree in Nurse Midwifery from Frontier Nursing University and has incorporated her midwifery training into the fertility setting. Megan currently works at Pinnacle Fertility: Seattle Reproductive Medicine at the Tacoma, WA clinic. Her days consist of new patient consultations, fertility evaluation and other diagnostic examinations, treatment planning and performing early obstetrical ultrasounds. She has a 10 year old son who keeps her very busy with his year-round baseball league and she has twice served as a gestational surrogate for two families who could not carry a pregnancy to term on their own. When she isn’t busy being a baseball mom, you can find her swing dancing, playing pub trivia, reading, or writing.
Recognizing and reporting child physical abuse in the newborn period
Dr. Cathleen Lang, MD, Child Abuse Pediatrician and Medical Clinic Director, Children’s Center
This presentation will review concerning findings in the newborn period which may be indicative of child physical abuse. It will review sentinel injuries in the newborn period. It will also review risk factors and signs of abusive head trauma. Finally, it will also review resources on how to help families who may be at higher risk for abuse in the home.
Cathleen is a Child Abuse Pediatrician and Medical Clinic Director at the Children’s Center in Clackamas County. She completed her pediatric residency and Child Abuse and Neglect fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center Dallas. She became Board Certified in General Pediatrics in 2010 and Child Abuse and Neglect in 2013.
Learning from our experiences: Case review in the community setting
Members of the OMC Quality Improvement workgroup will facilitate a mini-mock case review with your participation! This hour will highlight risk assessment, the interweaving of offering empathy and constructive feedback in the case review context, shed light on some top areas of concerns gathered from sentinel event review and offer reminders about charting best practices.
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
