Speaker
Lauren A. Arrington, DNP, CNM, FACNM


Speaker Bio
Lauren Arrington is interested in exploring how tactics that emerge from social justice movements in African communities can be used to achieve equity in perinatal healthcare. She is an assistant professor at Georgetown University School of Nursing, a midwife in Maryland, and an experienced maternal health advisor for global health projects. She serves on the Board of Commissioners for ACME and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health. She has led initiatives to address racism in perinatal care in hospital settings and is currently supporting the development of a maternal health equity toolkit through the Maryland Maternal Health Innovation Program. 

Course Description
This presentation will equip participants with an integrated change management approach that grounds the 5D Cycle of Appreciative Inquiry (Define, Discover, Dream, Design & Deliver) in Black Feminism and Radical Imagination to serve as a conduit for creating equitable care. The interactive format will review what’s wrong with traditional racial equity quality improvement initiatives and describe the benefits of applying a Black Feminist and Radical Imagination lens. Participants will reflect on ways to apply this approach to Centering Pregnancy programs and develop three goals for their work.

Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify three ways that traditional quality improvement approaches to address racial health inequities perpetuate racism

1. Describe the steps of Appreciative Inquiry and relate them to Radical Imagination and Black Feminist recommendations for quality improvement. 

1. Discuss how to apply the 5D Cycle for Health Equity to Centering Pregnancy