Mahek Zaveri is an MPH candidate in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, graduating in Fall 2025. She is also affiliated with the Maternal Child Health Center of Excellence (MCOE) at Pitt, a HRSA-supported program committed to advancing equity, leadership, and interdisciplinary training in maternal and child health. With a clinical background as a dentist in India and extensive experience caring for pregnant women and patients navigating HIV and tuberculosis, Mahek is passionate about oral health equity, stigma reduction, and strengthening maternal health systems through culturally grounded care.
The Mothers Who Shaped My Public Health Future
About Mahek
- What is your Maternal and Child Health (MCH) focus area?
My journey into Maternal and Child Health (MCH) began long before I had the language to describe it. In 2020, when I walked into my first dental clinic as a student in Ahmedabad, Gujarat (India), I thought I was simply learning a profession. My focus area today–maternal health, oral health equity, and reducing stigma for pregnant women navigating infectious diseases–had not yet formed in my mind. But the women I met, especially those carrying pregnancies alongside fear, secrecy, and pain, would slowly build the foundation of the public health professional I am working towards today.
- What sparked your interest in MCH?
The spark drew me into MCH grew over time. As a young student, I often found myself caring for pregnant women who reached the clinic only when their pain became unbearable. Many traveled alone. Many believed they should not seek treatment while pregnant. Many simply accepted discomfort because they had been taught that their health was secondary to everyone else’s. I never expected dentistry to reveal the deep social forces shaping maternal health, but each story pushed me closer to understanding why I felt so compelled to work with mothers, and why MCH resonated with me more than any other public health field ever could.
- What is one word you’d use to describe yourself?
If I had to describe myself in one word, it would be unshakeable, because these women taught me that perseverance is born from both struggle and purpose.
Project or Practicum Experience
- Describe a specific project, practicum or internship you participated in. What was your role and what did you work on?
By 2022, during my internship as Chief Dentist, a role that truly became my practicum experience, I was responsible for managing full clinical units and treating a large volume of pregnant and postpartum patients, as well as women living with HIV and tuberculosis. These were the stories that defined my practicum far more than any procedure. Many of these women lowered their voices when they spoke about their symptoms, as if fear and shame were part of their diagnosis. I met women who hid their HIV medications in plastic bags buried beneath sarees in their purse so no one in their household would discover them. Others came for TB treatment only after months of decline because they feared being blamed for bringing illness into the home. One woman told me she was avoiding care because she was hoping for a son, and “a mother must be strong for that.” Another feared being abandoned if her diagnosis became known; she had seen it happen to other women, left to survive alone.
- Which MCH Leadership Competency (or competencies) most connects to this work?
My practicum in that clinic connected deeply to the MCH Leadership Competencies. Creating Responsive and Effective MCH Systems (Competency 7) was essential as I navigated tightly-woven gender norms that shaped whether a woman felt worthy of care. Communication (Competency 5) became vital: I needed to be able to translate oral health needs, disease risks, and treatment safety into words that a pregnant mother carrying fear could trust. That systems level thinking revealed itself in every story; no illness existed outside the social structures surrounding it. These competencies helped me understand not only my patients, but the systems that shaped their lives.
Reflection and Growth
- Explore the role of self-reflection in your growth as an MCH professional. How has reflecting on your learnings or experiences helped you align your career goals with the MCH competency/competencies you previously mentioned?
When I began my MPH in 2024, the academic frameworks I learned helped me name what I had already seen. The Life Course perspective, social-ecological determinants, reproductive justice, and ethical care all echoed the stories I had heard during my internship. Self-reflection became the bridge between those early clinical encounters and the professional I aim to be. Every class aligned more deeply with my memories from India, and they grounded my career goals in the competencies I carried from my practicum—humility, communication, advocacy, and systems thinking. Reflecting on these experiences helped me understand not just what I want to do, but why it matters.
- What is one insight you want to share with a prospective student considering joining the MCH field within public health at large?
If I could share one insight with a future MCH student, it would be this: your lived experiences are not separate from your future in MCH–they are the foundation of it. Trust the stories that moved you. They are guiding you toward the communities you are meant to serve. My path began in a dental clinic in India between 2020 and 2022. As I approach graduation in 2025, I carry the women who shaped me into every space I enter. Their strength, silence, and courage continue to guide my purpose in MCH quietly, powerfully, and with a depth I will honor throughout my career.
About The Author
