Labor Day seems like a holiday of special significance to MCH members.  We help women prepare for labor and birth on a daily basis!  We are also a labor force that is deeply committed to important values. We challenge a culture that too often devalues women, persons of color, and parenting – and makes health care and child care inaccessible. We help make pregnancy, birth and early parenting a time of significance, growth, and development. We know that with new beginnings come hope, change and opportunity.

As I write this final column as the chair of the MCH Section, I am reflecting on where we are in this process of creating hope, change and opportunity.  There have been many important milestones these past two years and I am proud of our work in the following areas:

·         Health Reform stands out as a personal, organizational and national priority.  However, as many of us know very intimately, our work is not over.  Please join us for our Martha May Elliot Forum on Monday, Nov. 9, 2010 where we will learn more about how the interests of women, children and families were addressed or not, and what important work remains.

·         75th anniversary of Title V:  We are about to celebrate another important milestone in national policy directed toward supporting women and children (see article below on the national celebration).  The MCH Section will have a brief historical overview and celebration at our Martha May Elliot Luncheon, Monday, Nov. 8, 2010.

·         Maternal Mortality has finally arrived on the human rights agenda of the UN and among international philanthropists. Learn more about the important recommendations of the Women Deliver Conference and the Amnesty International Report on Deadly Deliveries at our MCH town meeting on Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010.  Special thanks to Judy Lewis and our International Health committee for help in organizing this session.

·         Technology has also been a key part of our MCH work. Last year, our town meeting highlighted ways in which we need to advocate for MCH issues on the state and national level as we develop Health Information technology and quality indicators. Text4baby has introduced no cost educational tools for pregnant women and parents of infants. And internally, we have developed a stronger Web presence (Join our Facebook group!) and new list serve for our members, thanks to the efforts of Karen VanLandeghem, Laura Kavanaugh, Katie Baker, and Jane Pearson. Clare Feinson has been the amazing editor of this e-newsletter for the past six years. 

·         Creating community and advocates for change:  The MCH Section has held its own as APHA membership has seen a decline. Thanks to the APHA Nominations Chair, our Chair-elect Debra Jackson and MCH Nominations Chair Jane Pearson, Section members have been nominated and appointed to many APHA leadership positions.  Program Chair Ann Dozier, along with committee chairs, have mobilized an impressive number of members to submit and review abstracts, plan scientific sessions, and engage in the work of the Section.  Our working Midyear Meetings have been standing room only, attracting both prominent professionals and student fellows. We have enjoyed briefings on the APHA agenda and the latest development regarding MCH on Capitol Hill or in Haiti.   With the leadership of Secretary-Elect Lauren Raskin Ramos,  we have recognized emerging leaders through our student fellows program (featured in the September issue of Nation’s Health) and with the leadership of Past Chair Barb Levin, we have expanded our awards program to recognize the many and varied contributions of or colleagues at different points in their careers.  Holly Grason has kept our issues alive and policies archived on the Action Board and worked with Jane Pearson, Lianne Estefan, and Judith Katzburg and others to develop a comprehensive Child Health Policy that we expect to be adopted by APHA this year.

See you in Denver?  If you are looking for a home within APHA, colleagues who share your passions and commitments, then you have chosen the right section. Together we contribute to an agenda bigger than what we can do alone or in our local communities. If you will be at the APHA Annual Meeting in Denver, please come and get to know us.  Join us for an informal dinner on Saturday night (see article on the Annual Meeting below) and stop by our booth just to chat.  Attend our Leadership Meeting (identify yourself as a leader and you are one!) on Saturday afternoon, where our Governing Councilors will brief us on APHA policy developments.   And our Membership Meeting on Sunday evening promises to be very participatory and great fun.  If you will not be in Denver but are eager to become a Section leader, all you need to do is say so and our terrific Chair-elect, Debra Jackson and Chair- elect-elect, Judith Katzburg, will put you right to work.  

Finally, I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the many Section members and volunteers who have worked with me and Section leadership throughout these two years. I want to acknowledge Glen Bartlett who has created a challenge grant to keep our Section enrichment fund and student program funded.  I also want to especially acknowledge our secretary, Karen VanLandeghem, APHA staff Fran Atkinson and Natasha Williams and Haley Singer and my Maternity Care Coalition colleagues for their time and support.

JoAnne Fischer

Chair, MCH Section