Heat Exposure and Maternal Health workshop

Presenters:

Adelle Monteblanco, UTEP Maternal Health Researcher
Jennifer Vanos, UC San Diego Biometeorologist

This two hour extreme heat-training workshop aims to promote maternal and infant health in the region. The workshop will raise awareness of the evidence that temperature extremes adversely impact birth outcomes (e.g., length of gestation) and the preventative measures available to local families. Further, the workshop will introduce maternal health providers to temperature trends in El Paso and where to find weather information in order to reduce client’s heat exposure.  Lastly, the workshop will also create an opportunity for knowledge exchange.

• Open to any local maternal health provider (including midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, and lactation counselors)
• Light refreshments and $10 thank you for attendance.
• For more info contact Adelle Monteblanco: admonteblanc@utep.edu, or cell, 971.409.4639

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Maternal Health-Related Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the different ways high temperatures affect pregnant women, fetuses, nursing women, and infants.
2. List local (El Paso) resources to keep mothers and babies cool during times of high temperatures and resources to reduce exposure.

Climate-Related Learning Objectives:

1. Be able to define normal and extremely hot temperatures for El Paso.
2. Know where to get information about weather and weather forecasts.
3. Be able to describe the terms used by the NOAA National Weather Service, to prepare people for days with hot temperatures.

Brief bios on presenters:

Jennifer Vanos: Jennifer Vanos is an interdisciplinary scientist with backgrounds in weather, climate, and human health. Jenni specializes in the study of human biometeorology, which is an interdisciplinary science that studies the influence of atmospheric processes on human health. Jenni’s research is increasingly geared towards understanding the environmental exposures of children, a highly vulnerable population to extreme heat.

Adelle Monteblanco: Adelle Monteblanco is a Post-Doctoral Research and Teaching Fellow at UTEP. Adelle’s broad research interest is in inequality, at the intersection of health, gender, and the environment. While a body of extant literature in disaster studies examines the disproportionate impact of natural disasters on marginalized groups, little disaster studies research focuses on women’s health; her research agenda is focused on providing critical contributions aimed at improving birth outcomes in the context of crisis.