Concurrent Session 1: Reproductive, Maternal, and Peripartum Health Inequities: A Regional Update
Our panelists will discuss how the Dobbs decision and subsequent closure of reproductive health clinics across the state, lack of access to Medicaid expansion, and ongoing rural hospital closures decrease access to health care in Tennessee; how lack of access to care intersects with structural racism, poverty, and other health concerns, such as substance abuse. The session will also examine how providers, social scientists, and advocates are using innovative methods to serve populations with the least access to care.
Panelists: Alexis Alsup, Student CPM, Doula, Founder of Empowered Doula Services, Fermeika Elliot, M.C.J., Lotus Program Experience Founder, Melinda Ramage, FNP-BC, CARN-AP, LCAS. Niki Zite, MD, MPH, Vice Chair, Education and Advocacy, Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Tennessee, Graduate School of Medicine, Beau Morgan, NRP
Moderator: Lesly-Marie Buer, PhD, MPH, Harm Reductionist
Moderator
Lesly-Marie Buer (she/they), PhD, MPH, is a Technical Assistance Provider for the Supporting Harm Reduction Programs team at the University of Washington and is the co-founder of Hellbender Harm Reduction in Knoxville. Dr. Buer has published in such places as Substance Use and Misuse, International Journal of Drug Policy, Journal of Appalachian Studies, and Boston Review. Dr. Buer’s book, Rx Appalachia, focuses on women’s encounters with substance use disorder treatment in rural Central Appalachia.
Panelists
Alexix Alsup, Student CPM, Doula, Founder of Empowered Doula Serviceso
As a proud native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and a graduate of Bearden High School, Alexis embarked on a journey that led her to become a Certified Birthing Doula. Further honing her expertise through specialized training in traditional herbal medicine for pregnancy and the postnatal period, she is currently pursuing studies as a student midwife at MCU, with the aim of becoming a licensed Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) in Tennessee. Alexis will be the FIRST Black Certified Professional Midwife practicing outside of the hospital setting in our community. Her dedication to this path is driven by a deep passion for providing comprehensive and holistic care to birthing individuals and their families. Alexis’ passion for being a doula is deeply rooted in serving the community that nurtured her. It was during the transformative experiences of having a doula present for her own births that she fell in love with the invaluable services doulas provide.
The empowerment and lasting impact she felt were unforgettable, guiding her to dedicate herself to advocating for, supporting, and empowering women throughout their childbirth journey. Alexis approaches her role with humility and enthusiasm, eagerly sharing her wealth of knowledge and experiences with every family she assists. Her mission is to spread love, facilitate healing, and provide comprehensive care to families during the precious phases of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. It is her heartfelt commitment to serve families of all races, with a special emphasis on African American women who have faced disproportionate challenges during childbirth. She eagerly anticipates continuing to empower families to have the birthing experience they truly deserve.
Nikki Zite, MD, MPH
Dr. Zite completed her medical training at Northwestern University Medical School, finishing both an internship and residency in OBGYN at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, in Memphis. Nikki also completed a Complex Family Planning fellowship and Masters of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a Board Certified OBGYN and Complex Family Planning subspecialist and active leader in the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Society of Family Planning.
Dr. Zite has published over 60 research articles. Her most recent publications have been related to immediate post-partum contraception (IPP), A novel decision aid called “My Decision” being studied in permanent contraceptive counselling, legal, educational, and medical implications of recent abortion restrictions post Dobbs, and Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARCs) uptake and outcomes. Dr. Zite is currently a professor, and Vice Chair of Education and Advocacy at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Nikki Zite grew up in the Chicago area and moved to Knoxville in 2004. She enjoys time with her family including her husband, two teenage boys, two Labrador puppies, traveling and cheering on the Vols or Cubs.
Melinda Ramage, FNPBC, CARN-AP, LCAS
shares her passion about sexual and reproductive health and actively participates in spaces focused on re-humanizing health care. A graduate of Purdue University, she started her nursing career as a psychiatric nurse in the U.S. Navy and went on to earn her master’s degree in nursing in Western Carolina University’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program. Her current roles include: the western Maternal Health Lead for North Carolina’s statewide Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PQCNC), active researcher and educator with Project CARA (co-founder of this outpatient, comprehensive perinatal substance use program), and direct patient care in OBGYN and Addiction Medicine.
Melinda Femeika Elliott, M.C.J., Lotus Program Experience Founder, Ramage, FNP-BC, CARN-AP, LCAS
Started her health foods brand Meik Meals, in 2019 and continued to pivot in the entrepreneurial scene to address major health crisis within the black community prioritizing maternal health, postpartum recovery, medical and food apartheid.
Femeika brings her background of 8 years in whole foods education, sacred medicine and ancestral practice with over 10 years in the social work field.
As your full spectrum holistic chef and ancestral practitioner, she is devoted to you —a nurturer and healer with a passion for maternal health, reproductive health and wellness through food and plant medicine. She is the founder of the Lotus Program Experience – a holistic women’s wellness & maternal health practice. Femeika is an activist and one of the founders of Knoxville’s Annual Black Maternal Health Conference as she’s championed the passing of maternal health legislation SB1832/HB2226 in the TN State Legislature on April 18, 2024 as it will go into effect on July 1, 2024.
Beau Morgan, NRP
Beau Morgan, NRP is a paramedic and the co-executive director of Hellbender Harm Reduction in Knoxville, TN. Beau works to uplift the needs of individuals seeking reproductive healthcare services including abortion through their work with Mountain Access Brigade and through their clinical work at Bristol Women’s Health. Beau plans to attend medical school to train as a physician and continue providing care for rural Appalachians.