2025 Healthy Mom - Healthy Baby Conference

Speakers

Joan Doglio Smith, CNM, APRN, OB/GYN NP

Joan worked at the Austin Area Birthing Center where she held many administrative positions. They include Clinical Director, Staff Educator, Centering Pregnancy Director, and Student Supervisor. In addition, Joan holds the distinction of having been the longest tenured Staff Midwife at the center.

Joan has twenty-three years of faculty experience in Nurse-Midwifery and Nursing. She is currently a preceptor for the Association of Texas Midwives (ATM), the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), the National College of Midwifery, the University of Cincinnati, Frontier Nursing University, Georgetown University, and Baylor University School of Nursing.

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Robin Page, PhD, APRN, CNM, FACNM, FAAN

Dr. Robin Page is a tenured faculty member at Texas A&M. She is a maternal health expert who has been with the School of Nursing since 2014. Her research on women’s health, pregnancy, health disparities and more has been widely published, and Page has secured or helped secure millions in grant funding to study and provide outreach services to underserved and vulnerable populations. A practicing Advanced Practice Registered Nurse-Certified Nurse Midwife, she provides her services free of charge to several community clinics in the Brazos Valley.

Dr. Page is the founder and director of the school’s Program of Excellence for Mothers, Children and Families (POEMCF), which was created in 2022 to develop and manage projects that improve the health and well-being of families and communities across Texas.

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Esther Calzada, PhD

Dr. Esther Calzada is the Norma and Clay Leben Professor in Child and Family Behavioral Health and Associate Dean for Research at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She received her B.A. from Duke University and her Ph.D. from the University of Florida.

Dr. Calzada is a clinical child psychologist with expertise in parenting and early childhood development in Latinx and other minoritized families. She has a strong commitment to scientific equity, working to both elucidate and counter systemic injustices (e.g., race-based discrimination) that undermine healthy development, and recognize and leverage factors that promote (e.g., ethnic identity) the well-being of young children. Ultimately, her program of research aims to reduce disparities in academic achievement, behavior problems, and socio-emotional problems. Her work has been funded by the National Institute of Health, the U.S. Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation and is published regularly in psychology, educational and medical journals.

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Catherine Eppes, MD

Dr. Catherine Eppes is an Associate Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and the MFM Division Director for Baylor. She is also the medical director for TexasAIM- the state of Texas' implementation of AIM bundles, which have included postpartum hemorrhage, hypertension and opioid use disorder. Her research, public health and clinical interests include patient quality and safety, substance use disorder and infectious diseases in pregnancy.

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Laura Murphy, PhD, MSN, RNC-OB

Dr. Laura Murphy received her BSN and MSN in maternity nursing from The University of Texas School of Nursing and her PhD in nursing science from Texas Woman's University. She has been teaching perinatal nursing at UT Austin for 13 years. Laura has experience working in labor and delivery, postpartum, and newborn nursery. She has also taught practicum courses at various hospitals in the area.

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Ciarra Morgan, TLCD, HBCE, CSC

Ciarra Morgan is the owner of Empowered Beginnings in Austin, Texas. She is also the creator and co-host of the Birth, Baby! Podcast and the co-founder of Birth, Baby! Academy, a birth doula training program. She is a certified birth doula, HypnoBirthing educator, and pediatric sleep consultant with a passion for supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

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Allyson Bates, OTD, OTR/L, SWC

Allyson Bates is a mother and Doctor of Occupational Therapy who is passionate about supporting family health and wellness. Allyson has over 10 years of experience working with the pediatric population as a former elementary school teacher and practicing occupational therapist. She specializes in maternal mental health, pediatric development and mindfulness coaching for families.

Allyson is an advocate for supporting family wellness in nature-based settings. She utilizes the outdoor environment and specialized nature-based activities to support families in building the skills needed for participating in meaningful daily activities. Allyson believes that everyone should be allowed the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive in their own unique way. She focuses on creating rich sensory experiences for families to connect with nature and develop community. She provides ongoing family education to support child development and mindfulness routines into daily life.

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Jessica Peterson, OTD, CLC, PMH-C, CEIM

Jessica Peterson is a mother of 2 and has been an occupational therapist for over 13 years. She is the owner and founder of Milk Stories, a mobile private practice in Austin, TX that specializes in infant and maternal health. She is passionate about working with mothers and families, particularly around the co-occupations of breastfeeding and infant feedings. Jessica is a Certified Lactation Counselor, Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional and Infant Massage Educator. In 2023, she completed her post-professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Boston University focusing on building resources and education for occupational therapy practitioners to better serve parents with disabilities.

Learn more about Jessica Peterson