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2026 Conference Agenda
10/8/2026 & 10/9/2026
October 8th, 2026 - Thursday
7:00-8:00 Registration & Breakfast
7:45-8:00 Opening Ceremony
8:00-9:00 Gutsy Nurse Torchbearers: Leading the Resurgence of Professional Nursing Capacity
Maureen Shogan
9:00-10:00 Racing Against Infection: Winning Strategies for Communicable Diseases in Pregnancy
Mallory Novack
10:00 -10:30 BREAK - 30 minutes
10:30- 11:30 Champions for Tiny Tummies: Preventing and Managing NEC
Jessie Cady Kauffman
11:30-12:30 Lunch
12:30- 1:30 The Mental Health Marathon: Supporting Families from Pregnancy Through Postpartum
Stephanie Fitch
1:30-2:00 BREAK - 30 minutes
2:00-3:00 Clearing the Legal Hurdles: Preventing Missteps That Lead to Litigation
Maureen Shogan
3:00-4:00 Champions of Compassion: Providing Whole-Person Behavioral Health and Social Support Through the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM)
Stephanie Fitch
4:30 Exercise Group
Join us for a instructor-led exercise group to move your body after a great day of learning and prepare for an evening of dining, hot pool soaking, and any form for relaxation you can think of.
October 9th, 2026 - Friday
7:15-8:00 Registration & Breakfast
7:45-8:00 Welcome
8:00-9:00 From Start to Finish: Obesity's Impact Across the Perinatal Journey
Mallory Novack
9:00-10:00 Gold Standard Care: 2026 Pharmacologic Updates for Fentanyl-Exposed Newborns
Maureen Shogan
10:00 - 10:15 BREAK/ Hotel Checkout - 15 minutes
10:15- 11:15 The DNA Relay: Connecting Genomics to Better Perinatal Outcomes
Carrie Thompson
11:15-12:30 Lunch
Raffle & Silent Auction
12:30-1:30 The Communication Decathlon: Skills for Navigating Difficult Conversations
Jessie Cady Kauffman
1:30 - 1:45 BREAK (15 minutes)
1:45-2: 45 Podium Power: Resourceful Resilience During an Overwhelming Odyssey of Overload
Maureen Shogan
2:45 -3:00 - Closing Ceremony
Contact hours will be awarded. Billings Clinic is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
2026 Speakers
Maureen Shogan, MN, RNC
Experienced professional nursing consultant with a demonstrated history of practicing in hospital Level III NICU as well as the health care industry. Known for her energy and refreshing approach to education. She is a whiz at translating "the hard stuff" into easily comprehendible material that can be immediately utilized in the care setting. Skilled in Nursing, Customer Service, Professional Development, Hospitals, and Teaching. Creative, enthusiastic, and committed to evidence based practice. Recognized as a clinical expert on National Institute on Drug Abuse grant projects. Involved national and state leader in neonatal nursing for over 30 years. Focus of clinical practice has been care of the preterm, late preterm and newborn exposed prenatally to drugs and complex family issues. She has practiced as an NICU manager, neonatal transport nurse, parent educator, clinical nurse specialist and liaison to in patient Chemical Dependency Unit for Women with Substance Use Disorders. She is an active member of the WA state Perinatal Collaborative and Perinatal Collaborative of Spokane County. She has served as editor of Association of Womens’ Health Obstetrics and Neonatal Nursing (AWHONN) Neonatal Orientation Education Program (NOEP). Content Expert in the development and revisions of "Weed to Know: Cannabis in Pregnancy and Human Milk" patient education materials. She has consulted to the states of Arizona, Idaho, and Washington Divisions of Child and Family Services on care of children prenatally exposed to substances. She is a highly sought after speaker by national nursing organizations in the US and Canada. Known for her energy and refreshing approach to education.
Mallory Novak, MD
Maternal-Fetal-Medicine Physician
Mallory Novack currently lives and works in Kalispell, Montana as a full-time maternal-fetal medicine physician. Before completing a fellowship in MFM, Mallory worked as an OBGYN physician in Anaconda, Montana for 4 years helping to serve patients with limited OB access. Mallory has a strong interest in providing compassionate evidence-based care to the residents of Montana.
Jessie Cady Kauffman
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Stephanie Fitch
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Stephanie Fitch is a Montana based mental health and addiction counselor whose career centers on strengthening the systems that support parents, infants, and young children. Drawing on dual master’s degrees in healthcare administration and clinical mental health counseling, she develops and leads statewide perinatal and pediatric behavioral health initiatives that expand access to integrated, relationship centered care. Her work is grounded in the belief that families thrive when services are compassionate, culturally responsive, and easy to engage with – especially in rural communities where resources are limited but human connection is strong. As a foster adoptive parent, Stephanie understands firsthand how early experiences, trauma, and systemic barriers shape the lives of both caregivers and children. This lived perspective fuels her commitment to designing programs that honor family complexity rather than penalize it. She is guided by a personal motto of “finding a way to say yes,” ensuring that families feel welcomed, supported, and seen as worthy of help. A neurodivergent leader, Stephanie approaches challenges with creative problem solving, non linear systems thinking, and a grounding sense of humor. These strengths help her build trust, lower defenses, and make difficult work feel more human qualities that have become central to her leadership in perinatal mental health and early childhood systems development. Stephanie’s long term vision is clear: to help cultivate a culture where every parent is recognized as deserving of support, every child grows up surrounded by stable and nurturing relationships, and communities measure their strength by how well they care for those facing the greatest challenges.
Carrie Thompson
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2026 Learning Objectives
Maureen Shogan
Gutsy Nurse Torchbearers: Leading the Resurgence of Professional Nursing Capacity
1.
2.
Clearing the Legal Hurdles: Preventing Missteps That Lead to Litigation
1.
2.
Gold Standard Care: 2026 Pharmacologic Updates for Fentanyl-Exposed Newborns
1.
2.
Podium Power: Resourceful Resilience During an Overwhelming Odyssey of Overload
1.
2.
Mallory Novack
Racing Against Infection: Winning Strategies for Communicable Diseases in Pregnancy
1.
2.
From Start to Finish: Obesity's Impact Across the Perinatal Journey
1.
2.
Jessie Cady Kauffman
Champions for Tiny Tummies: Preventing and Managing NEC
1.
2.
The Communication Decathlon: Skills for Navigating Difficult Conversations
1.
2.
Stephanie Fitch
The Mental Health Marathon: Supporting Families from Pregnancy Through Postpartum
1.
2.
Champions of Compassion: Providing Whole-Person Behavioral Health and Social Support Through the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM)
1.
2.
Carrie Thompson
The DNA Relay: Connecting Genomics to Better Perinatal Outcomes
1.
2. E