Safe and Secure: The Imperative of a Healthy 1st Thousand Days of Life

Registration begins at 8:00 am; Lecture begins at 8:30 am

Lunch will be served, as well as some light breakfast options

Safe and Secure: The Imperative of a Healthy 1st Thousand Days of Life

An Interdisciplinary conference for maternal, perinatal, global health and public policy professionals

The critical time of human development is the first thousand days of life, from conception through the age of two. What occurs during these first 1000 days can haunt a child for the remainder of their life. Malnutrition, birth difficulties, repetitive illnesses, substance abuse and relational based adverse childhood experiences can cause irreparable damage. The opposite also holds true. A healthy first 1000 days establishes a solid platform for a child’s physical, mental and relational health for the rest of their life!

The challenge of establishing a Safe and Secure platform for the first 1000 days of life is cross-cutting, extending from the provision of skilled, respect-based obstetrical care to support of foundational relationships within families that create security and attachment for children. Within that challenge, we recognize the vulnerability of millions of women and children throughout the world: vulnerability that exists because of poverty, food insecurity, mental illness, and lack of skilled, life-saving obstetrical and newborn care.