Stillbirth Symposium 2026: Closing the Gaps
We provide respectful, compassionate care for families who experience the tragedy of stillbirth. Join us in the fight to end preventable stillbirths.
Stillbirth Symposium 2026: Closing the Gaps
We provide respectful, compassionate care for families who experience the tragedy of stillbirth. Join us in the fight to end preventable stillbirths.
Stillbirth Symposium 2026: Closing the Gaps
Fri-Sat, OCTOBER 2-3, 2026
LOCATION: Salt Lake City, Utah
Please join us for learning, reflection, and community around ending preventable stillbirths and ensuring respectful care! We warmly welcome bereaved family members, care providers (MFMs, doulas, midwives, etc.), community leaders, researchers, and all who care about ending preventable stillbirths and ensuring respectful care!
Registration Fees as Follows
Registration fees include both days of the symposium, breakfast and lunch on both days, the welcome event, and the celebration dinner.
- MDs (including MFMs, OBGYNs, pathologists, etc.): $300
- All other care providers other than doulas (social workers, midwives, RNs, etc.) and PhDs: $150
- Everyone else (parents, other family members, volunteers, doulas, students, etc.): $50
USCOE is charging a registration fee for our annual symposium for the first time. If the fees pose a difficulty, kindly contact us at the email below.
To complete payment, go to the USCOE Store Front and select the "Symposium Registration" Tile and select the appropriate tier. From there, complete payment. Once that is submitted, our center team will be emailed, and we will confirm your registration and send the invite.
If you'd like to sponsor an attendee, you can also do so with the above the payment link as well. If you'd like to be added to our sponsorship list, please reach out to stillbirthcenter@hsc.utah.edu and we can assist.
Agenda
WEEK AT A GLANCE
THURS - OCTOBER 1
- 9:00 am - 4:00 pm - USPAL (U.S. Pregnancy After Loss) Network Learning Day - By invite only; please contact us at stillbirthcenter@hsc.utah.edu, if you are interested in attending.
- 6:00 - 8:00 pm - Welcome Event
FRI - OCTOBER 2
- 8:00 am - 5:00 pm - Symposium Day One
SAT - OCTOBER 3
- 8:00 am - 5:00 pm - Symposium Day Two
- 7:00 - 9:00 pm - Legacy of Love Dinner
SUN - OCTOBER 4
- 8:00 am - 3:00 pm - IMPROVE-USA Workshop - By application only, with additional registration fee. See our webpage for more information.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2: SYMPOSIUM DAY ONE
| 8:00 - 9:00 am | REGISTRATION (coffee/tea/light breakfast) |
| 9:00 am |
Welcome Susannah Leisher PhD, & Bob Silver MFM |
| TBD |
Mindful Moment Hannah Sammons CNM |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| 10:30 - 11:00 am | BREAK |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| 12:30 - 1:30 pm | LUNCH |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| 2:45 - 3:00 pm | BREAK |
| TBD |
Breakout Session 1: Photography & Molds Speaker |
| TBD |
Breakout Session 2: USPAL Network Speaker |
| TBD |
Breakout Session 3: Breathwork for Hard Times Hannah Sammons CNM |
| 5:00 pm | END DAY ONE |
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3: SYMPOSIUM DAY TWO
| 8:00 - 9:00 am | REGISTRATION (coffee/tea/light breakfast) |
| 9:00 am |
WELCOME Susannah Leisher PhD |
| TBD |
Mindful Moment Hannah Sammons CNM |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| 10:30 - 11:00 am | BREAK |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| 12:30 - 1:30 pm | LUNCH |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| 3:00 - 3:30 pm | BREAK |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| TBD |
TBD Speaker |
| 5:00 pm | END DAY TWO |
SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS
Bob Silver
Robert M. Silver, MD is Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Utah Health and a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He joined the University of Utah Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division after completing his fellowship there in 1994. He is serving as the Chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and as Co-Director of Labor and Delivery at the UUHSC. Dr. Silver’s clinical and research interests include recurrent pregnancy loss and stillbirth, cesarean delivery, placenta accreta, vaginal birth after cesarean delivery, immunologic diseases in pregnancy, and medical disorders in pregnancy.
Susannah Leisher
Susannah (Zan) Hopkins Leisher is a stillbirth epidemiologist and parent to Wilder Daniel, stillborn at 38½ weeks on July 13, 1999, with no cause found. Her stillbirth research interests include structural racism and epigenetic mechanisms of effect. Dr Leisher is working to launch the first Stillbirth Center of Excellence in the United States. She is an honorary research fellow of the Stillbirth Centre for Research Excellence at the University of Queensland, Australia; ex-officio chair of the International Stillbirth Alliance; co-chair of the Stillbirth Advocacy Working Group; and a member of the Steering Committee of AlignMNH, the MFMU Network’s Community Engagement Board, and the WHO/UNICEF’s Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere Management Team. Prior to becoming an epidemiologist, Dr Leisher was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal and then spent over 20 years working on global poverty and social justice in Asia, Africa and Central America, including ten years in Vietnam.
Hannah Sammons
Hannah Sammons, DNP is a Certified Nurse Midwife, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, and Mindfulness Instructor. She works as a Laborist CNM on Labor & Delivery at the University of Utah, where she supports families through birth with presence and evidence-based care. Hannah is the founder of The Birth Class, a Salt Lake City childbirth course that helps couples cultivate deep connection and nervous system regulation in the midst of the unknown. In partnership with the Perinatal Mental Health Clinic and Osher Center for Integrative Health at The University of Utah, she also hosts the Perinatal Mindfulness Virtual Drop-In each Monday at noon (MT) for anyone who is pregnant, postpartum, adopting, conceiving, or grieving—a welcoming space to breathe, feel, and practice together. Her work blends midwifery, neuroscience-informed mindfulness, and practical skills to help families feel supported through pregnancy, birth, and beyond.