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Professional Activity

Isabel Annett

College of Nursing, University of Arizona

NURS: 479: Transition to the Professional Nursing Role

Professor Moya

September 29th, 2022

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Professional Activity

I attended the 2022 Maternal and Infant Mortality Summit. This summit is a conference

hosted by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Directly from the Department of Health

Services’ website, the conference aimed to discuss the impact of mental health and substance use

on maternal and infant health outcomes. The conference also discussed healthcare and

community approaches to support women and their families affected by trauma. The summit had

speakers who spoke about different modalities of support for women and families. Perhaps the

most impactful topic of the summit was guidance provided on how to reduce bias in the

healthcare field to best serve pregnant women, their babies, and their families.

I was able to hear from many different speakers including moms, healthcare

professionals, leaders in healthcare, program coordinators, and more. They shared their

experiences and knowledge regarding maternal and infant health outcomes. My role was to listen

attentively. During the summit I took notes on topics that stood out to me, and at the end of many

speakers’ presentations there was an opportunity to ask questions.

This conference was held online with participants and speakers communicating over

video chat from all over Arizona. It took place over two days, August 24th and 25th, and was six

hours long the first day and about five hours long the second day. I attended the live conference

on August 25th and watched the recordings for the first day of the conference later because I was

in class that day.

I learned a lot about how mental health, substance abuse, and trauma affect maternal and

infant outcomes through this conference. In the United States, pregnancy related mortality has

been on the rise for years, with 17.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017. While the healthcare

system holds some of the blame, there has been a movement to put more focus on social
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determinants of health. From 2016 to 2018, almost half of pregnancy associated deaths were

related to mental health conditions or substance use disorder in Arizona and most of these deaths

occurred in the late postpartum period. Trauma is related to poor maternal/infant outcomes, and

adverse childhood events (ACEs) are linked to increased risk of hypertensive disorders of

pregnancy, preterm birth, and perinatal depression. Trauma is not experienced the same way for

everyone, and its impact is defined by the person’s perception, culture, resilience, and age.

Finally, women have a higher rate of depression and suicide, with this rate highest in the

postpartum stage. Even so, women perinatally are significantly less likely to have depression

recognized or treated versus the general population.

With all this new knowledge in mind, I know I can be a better advocate for mothers in

my nursing career. Since I am going into the labor and delivery unit for my preceptorship, I can

bring up the topic of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders with my patients and assess their

understanding of it to further equip them to address any issues that arise. My assessment and

education can make all the difference for a new mom because she might be empowered to seek

the help she needs. In addition, a strong support system has been found to be a protective factor

regarding postnatal outcomes. I can ask moms if they have a support system and if they don’t

have a strong one, I can recommend they join a new mom group or any group that will give them

something to lean on.

Finally, learning about trauma and the way it affects women has personally given me a

new perspective and sense of empathy for people affected by it. I will work to uncover biases

that I have regarding mental health and substance abuse so that I can work past them. Trauma is

modulated by perception, and thus I hope to be more understanding of other people’s life

experience and someone that people feel comfortable asking for help.