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New Documentaries About the Maternal Health Crisis, Sex Trafficking Coming to VOD This Year
When I want to learn more about a subject I always turn to documentaries. They provide a quick way to get the facts and crucial information about an issue I am interested in and then if I want to learn more I turn to other resources including books, news articles, research papers, and the like.…
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U.S. Support of Formula Over Breastfeeding is a Race Issue
Andrea Freeman, University of Hawaii When the United States threatened Ecuador with trade and aid restrictions if it did not withdraw a World Health Assembly breastfeeding promotion resolution that most people considered benign, if not banal, reactions ranged from shocked to amused. Experts explained that the U.S. resistance, although extreme, was nothing new. The United…
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Preventers of Maternal Deaths in the US Could Receive Millions in Funding
The relatively large number of American women who die due to childbirth is one of the little-known facts in our country. In a nation where we spend exorbitant amounts on healthcare, we have the highest maternal mortality rate of any other developed country. Word, however, is getting out that women are increasingly susceptible of dying…
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Can Fitbit Help Kids Gain Steps and Lose Weight?
Around 17 percent of American children from age 2 to 19 are classed as “obese”. That’s a level that has remained fairly steady over the last decade. And it’s growing. Obesity is measured in terms of Body Mass Index (BMI) – a measure that can be used to compare children in terms of their weight.…
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Why Save the Children Is Uniquely Suited to Help Kids After Hurricane Harvey
I have worked with Save the Children in some capacity for the past five years whether seeing their work around the world, blogging on pro-bono campaigns or partnering as a consultant. That’s why I can personally vouch for the amazing work they do for the most vulnerable children who have experienced psychological trauma from all-too-routine…
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Two Doctors Arrested in Michigan for Performing Female Genital Mutilation
An anonymous tip to federal authorities, cell phone records, and surveillance video have put two doctors behind bars for carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM) on young girls as young as seven in Michigan. Dr. Jumana Nagarwala and Dr. Fakhruddin Attar are currently awaiting a detention hearing next week. Attar’s wife was also arrested at she and…
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Despite Differences in Culture, US and India Fall Short in Childbirth in Similar Ways
Woman in labor, shown with monitors. Neel Shah, Harvard Medical School After eight years of practicing obstetrics and researching childbirth in the United States, I know as well as anyone that the American maternal health system could be better. Our way of childbirth is the costliest in the world. Our health outcomes, from mortality rates…
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10 Organizations and Birth Centers That Save Black Mothers’ Lives #MaternalHealth (Updated)
All maternal mortality and morbidity data in the United States report the same thing: black women die in disproportionately high numbers when compared to non-Hispanic white women. In fact, black women are four times more likely to die during or after childbirth than white women. One of the biggest statistics is black women — no…
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9 Facts We Learned in 2016 About Maternal Mortality in the United States
Texas has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the developed world. (Source) In Texas, cardiac events, overdose by licit or illicit prescription drugs, and hypertensive disorders are the leading causes of maternal death. (Source) White women had the highest rates of diagnosed mental illness of any kind (depression as well as other psychological illnesses)…
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Announcing #MaternalHealthChat Starting November 8 With Jacaranda Health
We are very pleased and excited to announce our new weekly chats all about maternal health with some of the leading maternal health experts, researchers, practitioners, and organizations in the world under the #maternalhealthchat hashtag. Starting on Tuesday, November 8 at 1 PM EST with Jacaranda Health we will host 30-minute chats each week all about maternal and reproductive health…
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How and Why Coca-Cola is Restoring Water to Our National Forests
When I stepped out of the U.S. Forest Service SUV after nearly a two-hour scenic autumn drive from Taos, New Mexico to the Carson National Forest, we were standing in an expansive valley so big that huge cows below us looked like mere dots in the distance. We had finally arrived at Valle Vidal, a…
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The Troubling Truth About Maternal Mortality in the United States
When everyday Americans think about women dying during childbirth it is probable that their initial thoughts travel directly to Africa where it is quite well known that maternal mortality is rife. Chances are their thoughts never focus on the deaths and near deaths during childbirth that women experience right here in the United States. After all, the…
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NYC Report Tackles Maternal Morbidity Rates
For years researchers who study maternal morbidity and mortality have been stumped as to why rates continue to rise and why women of color are adversely affected despite education, health care, and socio-economic factors. A new report and the first of its kind released in May, New York City 2008 – 2012: Severe Maternal Morbidity, shows…
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![Maternal Health Around the World [Infographic]](https://socialgoodmoms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/651340.jpg)
Maternal Health Around the World [Infographic]
Brought to you by Nursing@Georgetown: Nurse Midwife programs Photo: United Nations
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How We Can Help American Children in Poverty Learn
It may sound cliché, but a child’s future deeply rests on their ability to learn and to be educated. It starts early and it doesn’t matter where a child lives whether it’s in Kenya or the Philippines or right here in the United States. Oftentimes we see children who live in impoverished countries who desperately…
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Instagram Photo About U.S. Maternal Mortality You Don’t Want to Miss
Earlier this year I wrote about the important maternal mortality art work of Chicago-based artist and activist, Michelle Hartney and her plan to sew 1,200 hospital gowns for her performance art, MOTHER’S RIGHT — one for every woman who died in the US during childbirth in 2013. Hartney will perform this piece on September 7th at the…
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Maternal Health Heroes: Interview With Christy Turlington Burns #MHHSS
We are excited to publish our fifth interview in our Maternal Health Heroes Summer Series with Christy Turlington Burns, Founder of Every Mother Counts. Throughout the summer we will speak with some of the most notable maternal health advocates in the world ahead of the Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference that will be held in Mexico City between October 18 – 21, 2015.…
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How Foster Parents Make Up the Backbone of SOS Children’s Villages Illinois
I have had the great pleasure of seeing two SOS Children’s Villages: one in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the other in Chicago, Illinois. While they are markedly different the premise is the same and that is to provide quality care with a loving family for children who have been orphaned or abandoned. The SOS Children’s Village…
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How to Celebrate the National Park Service’s 99th Birthday
The National Park Service is celebrating its 99th anniversary on August 25, 2015. On that day all national parks in the United States will be fee-free. To celebrate the upcoming centennial of NPS in 2016, the National Park Foundation (NPF) launched its Find Your Park campaign to encourage everyone to get up, get out, and #FindYourPark. Everyone…
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7 Moms Give Their Best Breastfeeding Advice #WBW2015
This week Social Good Moms’ members share their best breastfeeding advice. See previous advice and stories from our World Breastfeeding Week series. Be kind to yourself, it’s not always perfectly easy! Don’t be afraid to ask for help and guidance. – Lisa, @aboutproximity I didn’t think I could breastfeed, but a little music to help baby and I…