Check out what’s new!
Stay tuned and get excited about all the amazing happenings in Region 8!
Birth and Beyond
Virtual
March 5th-26th
Wednesdays, 6pm-8:30pm
Postpartum Planning for Expectant Parents
Virtual
1st and 3rd Wednesdays
7pm and 7:30pm
Recent Updates
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It’s Community Baby Shower season! If you’d like SWMPQIC to promote your event (any community event benefiting the perinatal population in Region 8), please contact us using the fields below.
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Regional Events and Happenings
News from our partners…
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MDHHS Beneficiary Advisory Council (BAC) Opportunity
Share your experiences navigating Medicaid services through a series of four BAC meetings. Click HERE to learn more. Click HERE for a flyer
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Van Buren County Community Baby Shower
Van Buren County families are welcome to join the Community Baby Shower on April 29th from 5:30pm-7:30pm at the Van Buren ISD Conference Center in Paw Paw. Click HERE for the flyer.
Uniting for Change: Advancing Black Maternal Health Through Advocacy and Action
Join Bronson Healthcare and Cradle Kalamazoo for an evening of advocacy, education, and community support. This event will be held April 10th from 5pm-7:30pm at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Kalamazoo.
Got an event you want to share? Let us know!
On our Socials…
Our facebook page is a great place to stay informed about regional events. Be sure to follow us!
MDHHS Updates
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Michigan Car Seat Laws are changing April 2
Car crashes are one of the leading causes of death for children under the age of 13, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But you can reduce your child’s risk of death in a crash by 50% just by making sure they’re properly restrained in the appropriate car seat, booster seat, or seat belt for their age and size.
Updates to Michigan’s Child Passenger Safety Laws:
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Michigan’s updated car seat law requires children under 2 years old to be in a rear-facing car seat.
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Children aged 2-5 should use a front-facing car seat with an internal harness, with straps that go over the shoulders and around the hips.
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Children under 8 or shorter than 4 feet 9 inches must use a booster seat.
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Children under the age of 13 must ride in the rear seat of a vehicle if the vehicle has one available.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has tips on how to find the perfect car seat, recommendations, and instructions on how to install car seats.
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Call for Applications- MDHHS Maternal Mortality Surveillance (MMMS) Program
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Maternal Mortality Surveillance (MMMS) Program is seeking additional expertise on its Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) and Recommendations Workgroup.
We are seeking expertise in the following areas:
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For the MMRC: Cardiologist; Child protective services; Clergy/ Faith-based representative; Community-based organization serving birthing persons; Mental/ Behavioral Health; Person with lived/living experience; Peer recovery/ Peer support specialist.
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For the MMMS Recommendations Workgroup: Doula, Clergy/ Faith-based representative; Cardiologist; Community-based organization serving birthing persons; Community Health Worker; EMS; Emergency medicine; Family support professional; Fatherhood representative; Foster care; Home visiting; Insurer (Commercial); Mental/ Behavioral health; Person with lived/living experience; Psychiatrist; Peer recovery/ Peer support specialist; Tribal Health/ Partner/ Organization, WIC.
If interested, please apply here: https://forms.office.com/g/v2FSpysmtj
The application for MMRC and MMMS Recommendations Workgroup Membership will remain open through COB on Friday, April 4, 2025
For questions about the application process, please contact Melissa Limon-Flegler, MMMS Program Coordinator at: limonfleglerM1@michigan.gov. To learn more about MMMS, please visit: Michigan.gov/MMMS.
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Call for Presenters- MDHHS hosting Breastfeeding-Infant Safe Sleep Webinars for Professionals
MDHHS will be hosting a series of Breastfeeding-Infant Safe Sleep Webinars for professionals in late Summer 2025 and is looking for panelists to participate in two webinars. The Breastfeeding-Infant Safe Sleep webinar series is designed to promote safe sleep and breastfeeding guidelines, discuss how to have non-judgmental conversations with families, how to meet families where they are, and share information on risk reduction. The webinars offer an opportunity for professionals to share how they support families’ ability to meet their breastfeeding goals while practicing safe sleep, hear from breastfeeding families on their lived experiences, and identify strategies that helped families to successfully meet their breastfeeding goals and practice safe sleep.
If you are a professional who works with families and are interested in applying to be a panelist, please complete the Call for Presenters Application at the link below. If you know of a parent(s) who may want to participate, please share this opportunity with them and/or assist them with their submission.
Call for Presenters Application Link: https://mphi.jotform.com/250545976895173
Applications are due by Monday, April 11, 2025 at 5 PM.
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Doula Appreciation Week, March 22-28
On March 22-28, 2025, Michigan will celebrate Doula Appreciation Week, recognizing the vital role doulas play in supporting families during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, as proclaimed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
The MDHHS Doula Initiative supports a broader statewide goal of reducing infant and maternal mortality and addressing birth inequities by:
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Increasing and supporting the doula network in Michigan.
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Providing technical assistance for Medicaid doula providers.
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Engaging with doulas, families and partners to prioritize and expand doula service access.
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Community Doula Appreciation Week, March 29-April 5
Join Birth Matters in celebration of the 4th annual Community Doula Week, a campaign that began with by Eboni Williams, a BirthMatters community-based doula serving her community in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This collaborative initiative has grown and is led by a group of community-based organizations engaging in the vital work of perinatal doula support.
The objective is to connect community doula organizations with allies, supporters, and families in celebration of community-based doulas, and to increase public awareness of community-based doula services throughout the U.S. and beyond.
Please visit Community Doula Week - BirthMatters to learn more about the initiative, download a social media toolkit and participate in an array of special events.
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Understanding Perspectives on Maternal and Infant Immunizations: A National Study
Register for the Webinar to learn about key findings from a new survey on perceptions of immunizations for pregnant women and newborns, including vaccines and long-acting preventive monoclonal antibodies, and the key sources of information women look to when making decisions about immunizations.
April 1 at 2:00 P.M. EST.
Speakers: Susan Hepworth, Executive Director, National Coalition for Infant Health and Flor M. Muñoz, MD, MSc, Baylor University and Texas Children's Hospital
