-
Prepare for Childbirth: Jen Hamilton’s Birth Vibes Review
If you are pregnant, thinking about getting pregnant, or have recently given birth, you have probably heard of Jen Hamilton, the popular Labor and Delivery nurse who talks to millions every time she posts. With the encouragement of her online audience and publishers who wanted her to write a book, her first book, Birth Vibes:…
-
Florida Pregnant Women Are Having Court Hearings Forcing C-Sections from Hospital Beds
I recently read one of the most horrifying articles I have read in a very long time. ProPublica wrote an investigative report, Florida Courts Ordered Them To Have C-Sections, about women who wanted to have vaginal births but were met with resistance from the hospital and the courts.
-
Looking for a Doula Who Takes Health Insurance? There’s an App for That.
If you are pregnant and want to hire a doula, this health care option might be cost-prohibitive for some. Typically, expectant mothers can either get free doula services if living in a low-income community where doulas are paid through donations and grants.
-
CDC Releases Maternal Mortality Rates for 2024
The new maternal mortality rates from 2024 were released this week from the National Center for Health Statistics. Most of the data remain the same as in 2023, with a modest decrease in maternal deaths from 669 to 649.
-
Celebrate Women’s Day: Get Your Free E-Book
We are giving away our e-book, Simple Steps to Become a Maternal Health Advocate, for free to members of our community only.
-
The Best States for Women’s Health
Did you know there are 169 million women in the United States? Studies show that one-third of women postpone necessary medical care due primarily to a lack of access and rising health care costs.
-
Texas Cities Have Some of the Highest Preterm Birth Rates in the US, Highlighting Maternal Health Crisis Nationwide
The March of Dimes report scored the U.S. overall a D+ grade on preterm birth rate at 10.4%, but states differ dramatically in their scores. New Hampshire, for example, scored an A- with 7.9% of infants born prematurely, while Mississippi, where 15% of infants are born prematurely, scored an F.
-
Book Review: No Woman Left Behind
No Woman Left Behind: A Journey of Hope to Heal Every Woman Injured in Childbirth by Kate Grant My rating: 5 of 5 stars No Woman Left Behind: A Journey of Hope to Heal Every Woman Injured in Childbirth is a powerful and deeply moving memoir by Kate Grant, founding CEO of the Fistula Foundation.…
-
Why Women and Girls Are Still the Most Vulnerable in Global Health Crises
Amid the global health funding crisis, I often think about the trickle-down effect of the closure of USAID. No matter if some believe the agency was a burden on American taxpayers or not, there is no doubt that the work it accomplished over the decades created measurable change for women and girls, from improved maternal…
-
The Most Dangerous Place to Give Birth in the World and Four Ways You Can Help
Despite decades of progress in global health, pregnancy and childbirth remain life-threatening events for millions of women, especially in the world’s most fragile settings.
-
5 Organizations Whose Work I’ve Seen and Deserve Your Donations
During the holidays, one of the gifts my late mother gave to each of her children was a donation to a worthy cause made in our individual names. Every year, I looked forward to learning which organization she had chosen. It was one of the most creative and meaningful gifts she ever gave us. If…
-
How the Funding Crisis Affects Maternal and Child Health
The Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) recently conducted a snap survey of 20 of its partners to measure the deleterious effects of the funding crisis on global health programs. As expected, the decrease in funding has caused the immediate closure of health programs in lower-and-middle income countries. There is also a severe…
-
Speaking to SayItForward.org about the Birth of Social Good Moms and What’s Next
I was honored to speak with Sharon D’agostino. She is the founder of Say It Forward and co-host of The Power of Stories Podcast along with Yodit Kifle Smith. We discussed how Social Good Moms started and what’s next for the site and community. I also discussed the importance of women using their voice for…
-
The Devil Is Busy (HBO Max) Review
HBO Max’s short documentary The Devil Is Busy, produced by Soledad O’Brien (SO’B) Productions and co-directed by Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir, is a searing portrait of what it means to provide and seek reproductive health care in the post-Roe era. At its center is Tracii, a staff member at Atlanta’s Feminist Women’s Health Center—now…
-
Understanding the America First Global Health Strategy
The Trump administration, through the State Department, released its America First Global Health Strategy. This strategy has been long-awaited. The US global health community saw mass firings and the abrupt dismantling of USAID earlier this year.
-
President Signed the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024
My sweet mother always told me about her many births. In all, four of us lived, but many did not. Several of my would-be brothers and sisters passed away from still or crib birth. Some were named and some were not. My mother has always been extremely powerful to share her birth experiences with me…
-
Arizona’s Now-Repealed Abortion Ban Serves As a Cautionary Tale For Reproductive Health Care Across the US
When the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on April 9, 2024, that the state’s Civil War-era law banning nearly all abortions was enforceable, it brought into stark reality the potential impacts of leaving reproductive rights up to the states to regulate, and the related consequences for women’s health.
-
Breaking: Supreme Court Ruling Allows Mifepristone to Stay on the Market
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that FDA-approved mifepristone can stay on the market. That is, mifepristone can still be prescribed by physicians and accessed by telehealth and mail-order. The Court stayed the lower courts’ decision to ban the use of the pill stating that the plaintiffs lack standing. We recognize that many citizens, including…
-
Pending Reproductive Health Decisions on the Supreme Court Docket
Supreme Court decisions are expected this month about legal doctor and mail-order prescriptions of the FDA-approved abortion pill, mifepristone, as well as whether health practitioners can provide pregnant patients with stabilizing emergency services such as an abortion where appropriate and essential for stabilization or survival.
-
Baylor University Conducts In-Person, Virtual Training to Save Mothers, Babies
Baylor College of Medicine has performed substantive work in The Gambia to instruct frontline health workers on maternal and child health through its “Training of Trainers” and GOALL (Gambian Obstetrics Anesthesia Learning and Leadership) programs. With the ninth-highest maternal mortality rate, access to quality health care for women of reproductive age in The Gambia is…