For our main story in this episode we are joined by Summer 2023 NICHQ Communications & Digital Strategy interns Amalia Hirschhorn-Martinez and Katie McCormick. They speak with members of the NICHQ team about our upcoming webinar focused on infant safe sleep and breastfeeding messaging and NICHQ’s continued work to ensure health professionals and the communities they serve are supported with the necessary tools and resources to create safe sleeping environments and improve breastfeeding and chestfeeding rates. 

Join NICHQ for an upcoming webinar “Their stories are so powerful”: Community-based approaches to infant safe sleep and breastfeeding promotion, on Aug. 23. from 2-3:30 PM EST.  The webinar will highlight findings from a recent NICHQ-led study titled “Community-Based Approaches to Infant Safe Sleep and Breastfeeding Promotion, a Qualitative Study,” published in BMC Public Health in March. 

Patient and family partnerships are an essential element of health equity. By supporting patient and family voices and encouraging space for collaboration, public health professionals can help ensure shared vision and values are at the forefront of determining solutions to improve a community’s health outcomes. 

NICHQ Analyst Rinka Murakami is committed to addressing disparities in maternal and child health, particularly racial disparities. As an Analyst in NICHQ's Department of Applied Research and Evaluation, Rinka is particularly passionate about working on various health initiatives focused on improving birth equity and respectful care. 

Patient and family partnerships are an essential element of health equity. By supporting patient and family voices and encouraging space for collaboration, public health professionals can help ensure shared vision and values are at the forefront of determining solutions to improve a community’s health outcomes.

Evidence demonstrates that fathers play a critical role in children’s health and development, beginning in the prenatal period and continuing through early childhood and adolescence. On this episode of Before Birth & Beyond, NICHQ honors Men's Health Month and Father's Day, both celebrated in June, by sitting down with two Black fatherhood experts to discuss the importance of including fathers in maternal and child health work, policy considerations to improve father engagement, and men's mental health and its impact on outcomes for children and families.