Medical anthropologist Dána-Ain Davis coined the term “obstetric racism” in 2018 after spending years interviewing Black women about their birthing experiences
maternal health
Posted inHealth
Colorado maternity wards are giving out take-home doses of the opioid overdose antidote in hopes of saving moms
A project to get hospital emergency departments to dispense naloxone was so successful that organizers are now focused on labor and delivery units
Posted inHealth
Colorado is losing another birth center as midwifery struggles to stay profitable despite rising popularity
The closure of Thornton’s Seasons Birth Center leaves the state with just six birth centers, which are reimbursed at lower rates by insurance companies
Posted inCOVID, Equity, Health, News
As maternal mortality rate rises, Colorado health organizations tackle mental health and drug abuse
Birth looked different during COVID-19, said Jessica Anderson, a member of the Colorado Maternal Mortality Committee. What’s supposed to be one of the most magical — and gut-wrenching — moments of a parent’s life became isolating. “By wearing masks, there’s so much connection that, you know, comes with facial expressions,” Anderson said. “It looks different, […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Postpartum care should put more emphasis on mothers
I am blessed with four boys. Yes, it is a life filled with simple, beautiful chaos. No, it wasn’t planned and we weren’t pining for a girl. I met my husband in college. We were long distance for medical school and then our careers landed us in New Orleans. NOLA taught me to be a […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Whether Roe stands or falls, Colorado should continue to expand abortion rights
As a state legislator who supports abortion rights, I have been asked many times over the past month, “What can we do to protect Roe v. Wade and ensure abortion remains legal?” It’s not only because Texas passed the most extreme abortion ban in the nation. It’s also because of the approach of today’s date, […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Death rates for pregnant Colorado women have doubled since 2008. Here’s how the state is trying to fix it.
Nelia Borden started to scream when she realized her doctor was preparing to make an incision and use a suction tool to help her give birth. “I screamed ‘No!’ multiple times,” Borden recalled as she testified before a state Capitol committee. “I squirmed and tried to close my legs but I’d had an epidural. I […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Sen. Buckner: It’s time to pass legislation to improve maternal health outcomes in Colorado
Last week was national Black Maternal Health Week, during which one of the three bills in the Colorado legislature that are part of the Birth Equity Bill Package passed its first hearing. When we passed legislation that created the Maternal Mortality Review Committee in 2019, we knew this was a national call to action to […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Rep. Leslie Herod: Colorado to see maternal health legislation during the 2021 session
Now more than ever, we know that racism threatens our collective health as much as the most infectious viruses do. We also know that racism impacts childbirth. To this day, Black and Indigenous women still face rates of mortality, morbidity, and mistreatment much higher than their white counterparts in the United States. Data suggests that […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Death rates among pregnant women in Colorado are climbing. Suicide and overdose are to blame.
The meeting always begins with a moment of silence for the moms who are dead, a reminder to consider the humanity behind the data they are about to discuss. And then the doctors, midwives and mental health experts dive into the records to find the reasons pregnant women and new mothers died in Colorado. They […]