

News
West Virginia hosts second MotherBaby
Summit – celebrates improvements in
maternal and child health care
Charleston, WV, May 20, 2015
Charleston, WV, May 20, 2015 – West Virginia hosted its second MotherBaby Summit in Charleston last Friday, May 15th at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center. The format of the summit is designed for maternity care facilities to gather together to share information and learn from their peers in the field. This is the second time this specially created conference was held in West Virginia.
The Summit was attended by 62 participants, with 18 out of 27 sites represented, or 66% of the state’s facilities. More than 80% of the 21,000 births per year were covered by attendees.
The focus of the day’s agenda was to look at maternity practices in infant nutrition and care to drive change. Among the day’s sessions were topics such as: family-centered rooming-in, breastmilk feeding and medications and substance use disorder, breastfeeding and neonatal abstinence syndrome.
The MotherBaby Summit, first came to West Virginia in September 2013. Similar versions have also been presented in Massachusetts, Michigan, Philadelphia, Arizona and Virginia. Faculty for this year’s Summit included: Dr. Barbara L. Phillip from Boston Medical Center, Mary Foley, RN, IBCLC from Melrose-Wakefield Hospital in Massachusetts and Laurel Ann Jander, RN, BSN from Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan. West Virgina’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.