Presentation Descriptions and Objectives

Presenter: TBD

Those who are closest to the issues are often closest to the solutions. Across Minnesota, community-based organizations have taken this to heart by centering lived experience, listening to families, and then developing programs, services, and resources that reflect cultural values, community strengths, and real-world needs.

During this session, participants will hear from a panel of community leaders paving the way for healthy Minnesota families through culturally responsive and family-centered care. Panelists will highlight practical strategies, lessons learned, and aspirational goals for strengthening community-driven support.

Objectives:

1. Recognize how centering community voices influences program development, implementation strategies, and improves family outcomes.
2. Summarize key services and resources provided by the community-based organizations featured in this panel.
3. Reflect on opportunities to strengthen partnerships with community-based organizations to better support the families you serve.

Presenter: Julia Tindell, MPH

The CUES (Confidentiality, Universal Education, Empowerment, & Support) Intervention is an evidence-based, trauma-informed alternative to screening, designed to address domestic and sexual violence in health settings. In this fast-paced crash course, attendees will learn the essential components of the CUES Intervention, practice delivering the intervention with peers, and discuss questions and concerns about the intervention. Attendees will also receive a package containing a CUES poster, a set of CUES cards with Minnesota-specific referral information, and information about where to find additional training and resources to support implementation.

Objectives:

1. Practice delivering the CUES intervention from start to finish.
2. Identify additional training and resources to supplement the crash course in CUES and increase capacity for implementing CUES.
3. Initiate or strengthen collaborative relationships between healthcare settings and domestic violence programs.

Presenter: Stephanie Fieldseth, RN, BSN | Jill Adams, RN, BSN | Leslie Carranza, MD, MHS

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) remains a leading cause of maternal morbidity, requiring rapid recognition and timely intervention. This presentation highlights a multifaceted approach to reducing PPH rates through targeted clinical strategies implemented at the hospital level. Key interventions include the use of Pitocin administered via IV push (The 3-3-3 method) for more immediate uterotonic effect, the implementation of a standardized postpartum hemorrhage cart with refrigeration and immediate access to all hemorrhage medication, tools to improve timely interventions, and the integration of structured team debriefings following PPH events. These system-level changes promote a coordinated and streamlined response among interdisciplinary team members.

Objectives:

1. Apply evidence-based strategies and protocols to prevent and manage postpartum hemorrhage in clinical scenarios.
2. Evaluate how the implementation of a postpartum hemorrhage cart improves response time and timeliness of interventions during hemorrhage events.
3. Analyze how structured debriefing after a postpartum hemorrhage event contributes to improved team performance, communication, and patient outcomes in the hospital setting.

Presenter: Tolu Odebunmi, MD, MPH | Claire Drom, MD

In the United States, one in five individuals will experience a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder. According to the most recent Minnesota Maternal Mortality Review Committee report, mental health conditions—including substance use—were a leading cause of pregnancy-associated deaths. This data underscores a critical mandate for maternal mortality prevention: the need to establish robust, integrated processes for psychiatric intervention. Despite this need, many health systems lack the specialized expertise and resources required to provide comprehensive perinatal mental healthcare, leaving significant gaps that disproportionately affect vulnerable families.

In this presentation, we plan to, first, review the landscape of maternal mental health treatment in the state of Minnesota, with a particular focus on access and geographic distribution of clinical availability. We will then describe the work two systems, one urban and one rural, have undertaken to address healthcare inequities, identify barriers to care created by system- and individual-level factors, and identify transformational system-level changes to reduce “silos” in maternal mental health care. Using principles of Implementation Science, we will describe the elements of a specialty Task Force, opportunities for collaboration within systems and communities, and our plans to adapt evidence-based interventions to achieve equitable care delivery to our rural and otherwise under-represented patient populations. We will review data from formal surveys and structured interviews of mental health, primary care, and obstetric clinics in Central Minnesota. This work additionally describes the “Exploratory Phase” recommended within the principles of Implementation Science. Collection of additional qualitative and quantitative data was accomplished through formal and informal survey data and through reports generated in the electronic medical record (EMR).

Objectives: 

1. Analyze the current landscape of perinatal mental health in Minnesota.
2. Evaluate strategies for utilizing collaboration to bridge existing care gaps and improve outcomes for families across the state.
3. Create an individualized framework for their institutions using provided strategies and obtain real time peer feedback.

Presenter: Sogand Ghassemi, MD | Lisa Cross, LMFT, PMH-C

Mental health conditions are now the leading cause of pregnancy-associated death in the United States, driven primarily by suicide and overdose. Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders affect approximately one in five families, yet nearly 75 percent of individuals experiencing these conditions do not receive treatment.

The consequences of untreated perinatal mental health conditions extend well beyond the perinatal period. These conditions are associated with increased obstetric complications, impaired parent-infant bonding, developmental risks for children, and long-term family stress. The economic burden is also substantial. Untreated perinatal mental health conditions are estimated to cost more than 14 billion dollars annually in the United States, representing approximately 31,800 dollars in excess costs per affected mother-child pair across healthcare, social services, and lost productivity.

Despite growing awareness and expanded screening initiatives, many healthcare systems continue to struggle with a critical challenge. Screening often occurs without systems that ensure access to care. Providers frequently identify patients experiencing perinatal mental health conditions but lack clear referral pathways, trained providers, or coordinated systems to connect families with timely treatment.

This session will examine the scope and impact of untreated perinatal mental health conditions and explore opportunities to strengthen systems of care. Participants will review findings from the Maternal Mental Health Report Card, a national benchmark evaluating state performance across provider availability, screening practices, and insurance coverage for treatment.

Using Minnesota as a case example, the session will explore current system gaps contributing to unmet needs and highlight emerging efforts across the state, including coalition building, cross-sector collaboration, and health plan-based maternal mental health programs that aim to strengthen access to care for families.

Participants will leave with practical insights and system-level strategies to improve access to perinatal mental health care and strengthen outcomes for families.

Objectives:

1. Describe the prevalence and contributing risk factors for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and explain the short and long-term impacts of untreated conditions on birthing individuals, infants, and families.
2. Interpret findings from the Maternal Mental Health Report Card and identify system-level gaps that contribute to limited access to perinatal mental health care.
3. Apply strategies to strengthen screening implementation, referral pathways, and health plan supported maternal mental health programs, including approaches aligned with emerging HEDIS measures.

Presenter: Enid Rivera-Chiauzzi, MD

The presentation will introduce the concept of ‘second victim’, which refers to the healthcare providers who suffer emotional and physical distress after being involved in adverse events. It will explore the impact of such events on providers, such as burnout, guilt, and PTSD, and identify the high-risk scenarios that can trigger ‘second victim’ experiences. It will also suggest some supportive interventions that can help providers cope and recover from traumatic events, such as peer support, emotional debriefing, and skills training. Based on 25 years of research, this presentation raises awareness of the ‘second victim’ phenomenon in healthcare and offers peer support strategies to cope and recover from adverse events. This presentation addresses the stigma of suffering in silence after adverse events in healthcare. It teaches how to support oneself and others as ‘second victims’ and thrive at work.

Objectives:

1. Explain the concept of ‘second victim’ and its impact on healthcare providers.
2. List 5 high-risk clinical scenarios that can trigger ‘second victim’ experiences.
3. Describe 3 specific interventions to support colleagues who are potential ‘second victims’ of stressful or traumatic clinical events.

Presenter: Nicole Kahielani Peltzer, MPH | Sarah Gareau, DrPH, MEd, MCHES

Some birthing individuals face much higher risk of gaps in care, especially those experiencing mental health conditions and substance use disorder. Pregnancy can increase the chances of mental health conditions and substance use disorders. Recent Minnesota data show mental health conditions (including substance use disorders) as the leading cause of pregnancy-related death. These data also show that 95% of these deaths were preventable. In addition to addressing patient barriers, including access to transportation, housing, food, and other services, providers report barriers to providing whole-person care. In previous TMaH engagement strategies, providers identified challenges, including inconsistent guidelines, roles, and processes, a lack of follow-up with wraparound care services, sustainability concerns for care coordination, a lack of EHR integration, and low provider awareness of available resources. Maternal health providers and wraparound care providers (e.g., doulas, home visitors, patient navigators, community health workers, and others) are poised to address some gaps in care.

This interactive working session will bring together interested maternal care providers, including: OB-GYNs, midwives, nurses, mental health and SUD providers, tobacco treatment specialists, doulas, home visitors, community health workers, and community-based organizations providing wraparound care.

Groups will review what is happening now—from prenatal care through postpartum. The group will have the opportunity to share what ideal wraparound care could look like. They will look for missed opportunities, unclear roles and processes, and barriers for providers.

By the end, the group will have a draft content for a process map and priority list of improvements. Responses will help develop provider requirements for the TMaH model. The session may also help identify and strengthen partnerships and contribute to statewide policy recommendations for maternal care.

Objectives:

1. Bridge clinical and community providers and organizations that jointly deliver whole-person maternal care.
2. Draft a process or journey map of current screening, referral, and follow-up for perinatal patients with mental health, substance use, and tobacco use needs.
3. Identify gaps and areas for improvement on a journey map.

Presenter: Gretchen Buchanan, PhD, LMFT, LADC | Jesse Flynn, LICSW, IMH-E® | Lauren Graber, MD, MPH

A multidisciplinary panel from the Redleaf Flourish Program, an outpatient program for pregnant and parenting women and birthing people with children ages 0-5, will present on shifting care from a model where the infant is merely present to one that centers the caregiver-infant relationship as a key mechanism for therapeutic intervention and healing for caregivers. This evidence-based approach can be used by any healthcare worker in any type of visit.

Objectives: 

1. Describe how infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) principles can be integrated into the treatment of caregivers with substance use concerns.
2. Identify the roles of various professionals—clinicians, nurses, integrative health providers, psychiatrists, and researchers—in supporting caregiver-infant relationships.
3. Explore the therapeutic shift from infant presence in treatment to emphasizing the caregiver-infant relationship as a central mechanism for healing.

Presenter: Kate Saumweber Hogan, CPM, LM | Amy Romano, MBA, MSN, CNM, FACNM | Charles Sloan III, Nationally Registered Paramedic | Ann Forster Page, DNP, APRN, CNM, FACNM

Emergencies in low-risk, community birth settings are uncommon but require rapid recognition, clinical expertise, and coordinated response across care environments. When transfer from home or birth center to hospital is needed, patient safety depends on both clinical management and well-functioning systems of communication and collaboration among community providers, EMS, and hospital teams. However, few systems have structured opportunities to build and test these relationships in real time.

This session will present both a national model for improving transfer systems and a real-world example of interdisciplinary simulation in practice.

The Step Up Together Action Collaborative is a national, cohort-based learning initiative designed to strengthen community-to-hospital transfer through interdisciplinary simulation. Teams composed of community birth providers, EMS, and hospital clinicians participate in structured education, coaching, and peer learning, culminating in Full Transfer Drills that begin in the community, proceed through transport, and conclude in the hospital. These simulations have been associated with improved communication, teamwork, and preparedness, and have identified actionable opportunities for quality improvement.

A multidisciplinary team from Minneapolis that participated in the national Action Collaborative will present their experience conducting a high-fidelity Full Transfer Drill focused on postpartum hemorrhage. The simulation followed the full clinical trajectory, including initial management in the community setting, coordination with EMS, initiation of blood transfusion during transport, and activation and resolution of a massive transfusion protocol in the receiving hospital. Presenters will discuss implementation, operational challenges, and key lessons learned.

Together, these perspectives demonstrate both a scalable framework and a practical application of interdisciplinary transfer simulation. Attendees will gain tools and strategies to strengthen collaboration, test transfer processes, and improve readiness for high-risk perinatal emergencies across settings.

Objectives: 

1. Describe the Step Up Together program and its approach to improving community birth (home birth or birth center) to hospital transfers.
2. Analyze interdisciplinary strategies for communication, teamwork, and preparedness.
3. Apply insights from the program to enhance safety and collaboration in their own practice settings.

Presenter: Becky Gams, MS, APRN, BC-WHNP, cEFM, FAWHONN | Cassie Thompson, BSN, RN | Kristina Olson, BSN, RN

In a 2025 sample of 245 urgent Cesarean cases, the median decision-to-procedure start time was 58 minutes (mean 76 minutes), with only 9.39% of cases meeting the 30-minute decision-to-incision benchmark.

Although these were not STAT cases, such delays in care may contribute to preventable maternal and neonatal complications, highlighting the need for multi-disciplinary systematic review and process improvement.

A multi-disciplinary team of key stakeholders participated in a 2-day Kaizen held in October 2025. Multiple strategies, including mock urgent cesarean simulations, were conducted to identify opportunities for efficiency and safety. The multi-disciplinary team strategized to change the team notification process and patient preparation workflow, reducing the decision to incision time from an average of 76 minutes to current average of 42.5 minutes. Key changes in the team notification process and expedited patient preparation will be shared, as well as strategies to sustain the improvements.

Objectives: 

1. State how unclear definitions and roles contribute to delays in decision to incision time.
2. State how clear linear steps to proceeding to the OR in a timely manner increases efficiency and safety.
3. Describe the efficiencies and effectiveness of a multidisciplinary team approach to quality improvement.

Presenters: Cinthia Rodriguez Navin, DNP, RN, PHN | Diane Tran, CPPM | Eileen Copisky

Periods of community unrest and large-scale emergencies expose vulnerabilities in healthcare systems that extend far beyond hospital operations. During the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd and the implementation of Operation Metro Surge, perinatal leaders faced unprecedented challenges in maintaining safe, equitable care while navigating rapidly changing community conditions. Pregnant and postpartum patients encountered barriers including transportation disruptions, safety concerns, altered EMS response patterns, and heightened mistrust of healthcare and public safety systems. These challenges highlighted the critical interdependence between healthcare organizations and the communities they serve.

This panel presentation explores lessons learned from leading perinatal services during times of crisis and examines how nurse leaders can strengthen preparedness through community-centered collaboration. Participants will discuss the operational, safety, and equity challenges that emerge when traditional healthcare delivery systems are disrupted. Particular attention will be given to the ways community unrest disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations and can widen existing maternal and neonatal health disparities.

The presentation emphasizes the importance of trauma-informed leadership, recognizing that both patients and healthcare workers may be experiencing individual and collective trauma during periods of disruption. Panelists will share strategies for supporting staff resilience, maintaining patient trust, and preserving continuity of care while responding to rapidly evolving circumstances.

A central focus of the discussion is the role of partnerships beyond hospital walls. Effective collaboration with EMS, public health agencies, community-based organizations, and local support networks can help ensure patients continue to access essential perinatal services even when normal systems are strained. Attendees will learn practical approaches for building and sustaining these relationships before a crisis occurs and activating them when needed.

By examining real-world experiences and leadership lessons from community emergencies, participants will gain actionable strategies to integrate community collaboration into emergency preparedness planning. The session will provide tools to identify operational risks, address equity concerns, support staff and patients through trauma-informed practices, and develop coordinated response plans that align healthcare operations with community needs. Ultimately, this presentation aims to equip perinatal leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain safe, equitable, and connected care during future crises while strengthening trust and resilience within the communities they serve.

Objectives:

1. Identify key operational, safety, and community-based challenges impacting perinatal care delivery during times of community unrest and large-scale emergencies.
2. Apply trauma-informed leadership principles to support staff and patients while maintaining safe, equitable maternal and neonatal care in crisis conditions.
3. Implement approaches that preserve equity and reduce barriers to care, particularly for populations disproportionately impacted by community disruption.