black maternal health
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It's Time to Have a Crucial Conversation About Our Communal Health With Planned Parenthood’s Alexis McGill Johnson, EHE Health's Joy Altimare and Dr. Joia Crear-Perry
“If you want to feed a person, you pay a man,” says Joy Altimare of EHE Health, one the sponsors of our first-ever Root Institute. “But if you want to feed a village or a community, you make sure a woman is actually enabled to take care of herself and her children.” The direct links…
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Jodie Turner-Smith Reflects on 'the Sacred Process of Creating a Family' Amid 'Systemic Racism' in New Essay
The prospect of giving birth as a Black woman is currently as daunting as it is joyful. Black maternal health has become a major topic of discussion in recent years—one we’ve covered extensively here at The Glow Up—as mortality rates for Black mothers have risen to three to four times those of their white counterparts;…
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Black Women's Trauma Is No Laughing Matter
A few weeks back, chart-topping emcee Megan Thee Stallion revealed via Instagram that she was shot in the foot on July 12 “as a result of a crime committed against [her] and done with the intention to physically harm [her],” despite early reports that she stepped on glass during a night out in the Hollywood…
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Pregnant YouTuber Nicole Thea Dies Suddenly at the Age of 24
Nicole Thea, a 24-year-old YouTube star from London, and her unborn child passed away suddenly on Saturday morning. CNN reports that Thea was around eight months pregnant at the time of her death. “To all Nicole’s friends and supporters it is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Nicole and her son…
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In Illinois, 7 out of 10 COVID-19 Cases During Pregnancy Affected Black and Latinx Women
A new report from the Chicago Tribune finds Black and Latinx birthing parents represented the vast majority of COVID-19 cases while pregnant in Illinois. According to data shared by the state’s Department of Public Health last week, nearly half (49 percent) of all these cases affected pregnant Latinx parents, while another quarter (23 percent) affected…
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Planned Parenthood Officially Names Alexis McGill Johnson Its Permanent President
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the nation’s largest provider of sex education with more than 600 health centers across the country, ushered in a new era in its nearly 104-year history on Friday, as its board of directors announced the appointment of Alexis McGill Johnson as permanent president and CEO of PPFA and the…
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Climate Change and Air Pollution Linked to Pregnancy Risks—With Black Mothers and Their Infants Suffering the Most
A wave of research and media coverage over the last several years has ensured that the public knows more about America’s Black maternal health crisis than ever before. But as a new study reveals, the systemic factors that propel such disparities in maternal and infant health may be getting worse. The new study, published last…
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26-Year-Old Black Woman Dies Giving Birth After She Was Neglected by Doctors for Weeks, Family Says
Amber Isaac was a little more than a month away from her delivery date, and thrilled about the prospect of finally meeting her first child, a baby boy named Elias. But one issue had her worried: in February, she learned her platelet count was low, a symptom of several conditions that could result in dangerous…
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New York Announces Maternal Health Task Force to Help Support Pregnant Parents Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
On Wednesday afternoon, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that the coronavirus pandemic is “not gonna be over anytime soon,” suggesting that the city’s overburdened hospital system will have to continue its herculean efforts to treat the outbreak for some time. There is a sliver of good news for the city’s pregnant parents, however. With…
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The Blacker the Sugaberry: Tika Sumpter and Thai Randolph's New Platform Savors the Sweetness of Black Motherhood
In a single season of playing altruistic attorney Alicia Johnson on ABC’s Mixed-ish, Tika Sumpter has quickly joined the ranks of television’s black moms—a role that followed star turns in The Haves and Have Nots, opposite Tiffany Haddish in Nobody’s Fool, and her endearing portrayal of a pre-White House (and pre-marriage, Malia, and Sasha) iteration…