PRH Policy Assistant Taryn Graves authored an op-ed about how The Care for Moms Act in Congress would provide access, expanding Medicaid and CHIP, and more to address the maternal health crisis. Read the full article in The Tennessean.
My journey toward a career in reproductive justice began with my mother’s difficult pregnancy and experiences as a Black woman navigating the U.S. health care system. I spent the first five months of my life at the hospital due to a premature birth.
I arrived two months early with a hiatal hernia, a condition in which part of the stomach pushes into the chest cavity. When recalling her pregnancy, my mother describes it as a traumatic time in her life where she experienced doctors dismissing her needs and minimizing her concerns, worsened by a difficult period of post-partum recovery.
Unfortunately, these stories are all too common. Many individuals and their families have had difficult pre- and post-partum journeys within the health care system. These experiences are even more troublesome because structural racism systematically denies Black women the care they need.