UW Rural Health Institute to Host Inaugural Wyoming Maternal Health Summit

The University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences’ Rural Health Institute will host the inaugural Wyoming Maternal Health Summit Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 2-3, at UW’s Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center.

The summit -- with a theme of “Closing the Distance: Maternal Health Access and Innovation in Wyoming” -- will bring together clinicians, nurses, midwives, doulas, community health workers, researchers, policymakers and people with lived experience to address maternal health access and outcomes across Wyoming and other rural and frontier communities.

“We are thrilled to bring together local and national speakers, statewide stakeholders and exhibitors who share a commitment to improving maternal health. This summit is an opportunity to learn from one another, build meaningful connections, and engage in unique and collaborative ways,” says Lauren Gilbert, director of the Rural Health Institute. “We look forward to bringing people together from across Wyoming and beyond to create momentum and move maternal health forward in our state.”

Keynote speaker Joia Crear-Perry, founder of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, will headline the event. Sessions will be organized across four tracks: clinical delivery and access; mental health and substance use disorders; workforce expansion; and data, policy and sustainability.

“Maternal health has been an evolving conversation in Wyoming for many years, and I am excited that this event has come together to address this complex issue,” says Jen Davis, executive director of the Wyoming Primary Care Association and chair of the Wyoming Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

An exhibitor hall will feature organizations working in maternal and rural health, including Postpartum Support International; Laramie Reproductive Health; Laborie, Wyoming Delta Dental Foundation; Marani Health; MT Psychiatric Access Line; Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health, Naloxone Project; Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses; Wyoming Institute for Disabilities; UW Ultrasound Initiative; Safe Project; Laramie Breastfeeding Coalition; and Wyoming Public Health Association.

Registration is open now at www.uwyo.edu/hs/rural-health-institute/maternal-health-summit.html.

The event is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of the State Maternal Health Innovation Program.

About the University of Wyoming Rural Health Institute

The Rural Health Institute designs, implements and evaluates innovative approaches to improving health outcomes for the people of Wyoming -- the least populated, most rural state in the nation. The institute works at the intersection of research, direct program implementation and workforce development to close persistent gaps in access to care across Wyoming’s 23 counties.

For more information about the UW Rural Health Institute, visit www.uwyo.edu/hs/rural-health-institute/index.html.