West Virginia hosted its first MotherBaby Summit in Charleston on September 20th at The Summit Conference Center. The event was specifically designed for maternity care leaders to gather and discuss best practices and learn from one another. Sixty-six maternity leaders from around the state participated, representing 18 of West Virginia’s 28 maternity facilities. Eighty-two percent of the births per year were covered.
The focus of the day-long Summit was to examine optimal maternity care practices. Topics discussed included: family-centered maternity care and rooming-in, immediate skin-to-skin holding, and the Joint Commission Perinatal Core Measure Set. Faculty included: Dr. Barbara Philipp, a pediatrician from Boston Medical Center; Dr. Gail Herrine, an obstetrician from Temple University; and Mary Foley, a nurse and certified lactation consultant from Melrose-Wakefield Hospital in Massachusetts. Melanie Riley, RN, Berkeley Medical Center and Dr. Allan Chamberlain, St. Mary’s Medical Center also spoke.
Feedback from participants was uniformly positive, including comments like:
“Extremely informative. New information presented to me today.”
“Very informative/fun conference! All presenters were so well educated and eager to answer all questions. Thank you!”
“Excellent, many good ideas on ways to get started. Everyone should be able to do at least one of the things which were discussed today.”
Similar MotherBaby Summits have been held in Massachusetts, Michigan, and Philadelphia. West Virginia’s Summit was sponsored by The West Virginia Breastfeeding Alliance; WV DHHR/Office of Maternal, Child and Family Health; West Virginia Hospital Association; and West Virginia Perinatal Partnership.
