#Black infant mortality

[tani-b-art]

Aftershock (2022)

[odinsblog]

Rest In Peace, Tori Bowie

While some vehemently deny that structural racism exists and that even individual doctors hold internal biases against Black women, maternal mortality rates do not lie.

👉🏿 https://firstandpen.com/torie-bowie-serena-williams-allyson-felix-pregnancy-black-maternal-health-mortality/

Even though 60% of all childbirth-related deaths in the US are preventable, the "[racial] disparities around maternal health are not improved by access to insurance, access to education," according to double board-certified neonatologist and pediatrician Dr. Terri Maior-Kincade.

"Having a higher socio-economic status for Black women is not protective," Major-Kincade told Insider. "These disparities are related to systemic issues, and they're not going to get better until we provide equitable care. So we have to improve the way we deliver care to Black women so that we can have the full joy of pregnancy."

👉🏿 https://www.insider.com/allyson-felix-near-death-pregnancy-issues-black-moms-face-2022-6

[reasoningdaily]

First Steps and Beyond Aims to Reduce Black Infant Mortality

Director Takiyah Durham, MBA, and Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, MD, share how the program is improving maternal and infant care in Pittsburgh, PA, at Highmark Health.

Despite advanced resources, infant mortality rates are rising. The First Steps and Beyond initiative, prompted by a 2015 University of Pittsburgh study, targets health disparities in the city, particularly the alarming death rates among Black babies. Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network (AHN) have partnered to tackle this issue, with the ultimate goal of ensuring every Black baby reaches their first birthday.

The director of First Steps and Beyond at Enterprise Equitable Health Institute Takiyah Durham, MBA, and senior vice president and chief diversity officer of Highmark Health/AHN, Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, MD, professor and academic chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Drexel University College of Medicine, discuss the program’s objective to reduce these rates through community collaboration, focusing on preterm births, racial disparities, safe sleep practices, and trimester support.

Transcript:

What was the motivation behind the initiation of First Steps and Beyond?

Takiyah Durham, MBA: So, if we kind of put things into perspective, we know that the United States has one of the highest rates when it comes to maternal mortality and infant mortality. Despite having the most resources via one of the most technologically advanced nations, our infant mortality rates continue to rise.

When we think about that, it helps me to go back to the mortality review committee's findings. So, we look across the country; 2 out of 3 pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. So we think about those stats. If 2 of 3 pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, we think about if we had the right systems in place, the right resources in place, being one of the most advanced nations in the world, how we could really impact infant mortality.

And if we drill down to Pittsburgh, to Allegheny County, and we look at our statistics, Black babies in Allegheny County are 2 to 3 times more likely to die before their first birthday. So, we put those things into perspective and we think about the risk factors from social determinants of health disparity component, and we group that into who it impacts the most. It goes back to Black babies and Black birthing people. And so with First Steps and Beyond, we want to ensure that every Black baby celebrates his first birthday.

In order to do that, it requires an all-hands-on-deck approach, a community approach, and what we've formed is a community collaborative. We are focused on Black maternal and infant mortality in Allegheny County because of the rates and who it impacts. What we would love to do is make sure every baby makes it to their first birthday and beyond, and also help to impact those mortality rates.

Some of our focuses, or our goals, would be the preterm birth rates, the racial inequalities, the safe sleep, and also 4 trimester support. Those areas that are most impacted by infant mortality and maternal disparities. And we'll get into that, hopefully today.

Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, MD: So, I just wanted to add a little bit to that only because when we talk about why here–and Takiyah already mentioned the fact that in Allegheny County, we want to make a difference–is we know that if we make some significant efforts as it relates to implementing interventions that effect and decrease the death of Black babies, that we decrease the death of all babies, which is why she said we need to decrease the death of all babies.

That number should be zero. As it turns to maternal health and neonatal health or death of babies, that number should be zero in our country, because most of the deaths are because of preventable causes.

And then the whole issue of why here in Pittsburgh, Dr. Miller and her crew at the University of Pittsburgh did a study back in 2015, I believe it's older now. And based on that study, she identified multiple areas within our city alone, that have large gaps in health disparities. Not only incorporating what happens in the social determinants of health area, but also that big gap that includes not only, cardiovascular disease, cancers, incarcerations of young African American and other Black populations, but one of the ones that really rose to the top, of course, was the death of Black babies.

And that's why Highmark (Health) and AHN decided, if we start anywhere, let's start here. And if we can make a difference here then we can do some things in some other areas of health disparities.

[frances-baby-houseman]

I would have bled out in the parking lot

Amber Nicole Thurman's death is on Trump's hands

Bess Kalb

Sep 17

In 2019, about six weeks after my first child was born, I found myself on the bathroom floor in a small, but nonetheless unsettling puddle of blood.

“Oh no,” I remember thinking. “I just did the laundry.”

I called out my husband’s name, but the sound caught in my throat. The pain I felt inhaling to get enough air out of my lungs to yell the two syllables in “Char-lie” jabbed my guts like a bicycle spoke to the abdomen.

So I was quiet, trying to keep breathing in a way that didn’t move anything inside me, and the pain pulsed a bit, then steadied, then dulled, then evaporated into whatever hell ether it came from.

Because there is no G-d (unless there is, in which case I abbreviated His name so as not to desecrate it, and also thank you, King of the Universe, for subscribing to this newsletter) this was the one time in my life I hadn’t brought my phone with me to the bathroom.

I decided to sort of slither-lumber to the door like a lame harbor seal, because I didn’t want to stand and loosen the spoke that had just stabbed me. I reached for the knob and let the door creak open.

The cat was there, looking at me right at eye level, keenly aware what was happening, and completely unmoved by it.

“You are dying,” he blinked, “Pity. Have a nice time.” He sashayed away.

Fortunately, our house in Los Angeles was small enough that from the bathroom door one could see everything. My husband was sitting on the couch with our infant, and I knocked on the open door to summon him. Within one one thousandth of a second, he set the baby on the (since-recalled) donut pillow and was holding my head.

I sat up. I breathed. No pain. I took a picture of the bloody mess on my husband’s phone, texted it to myself, he found my phone, then I texted the picture to my OBGYN.

Apologies for being graphic, but within the puddle there was something roughly the size and shape and color of a fig.

“Is this ok?” I said to my doctor, the bicycle spoke scraping lightly at my insides again from all the lumbering.

“Come in,” she replied.

Within two hours, I was in the waiting room of her office, accompanied by my terrified but SMILING mother, who was still, as is the Jewish custom, in town for “a few days or so” after the birth.

An ultrasound which felt like the finger of Satan himself revealed there was retained placenta in my uterus. If I hadn’t come in, there would have been more hemorrhaging, then sepsis, then whatever the cat foretold.

The next day, I was in surgery getting a Dilation and Curettage.

I went home, pumped the anesthesia milk, then fell asleep perfectly fine, my sweet newborn cooing merrily in the bassinet next to his alive mother.

Amber Nicole Thurman’s story was the same as mine, but it happened to her in Georgia in 2024, not California in 2019. She was a Black woman in a healthcare system that disproportionately kills Black women, especially postpartum. In 2021, the Black maternal mortality rate was nearly three times the rate it is for white women. Post-Roe, the toll is and will continue to be staggering.

Because post-Roe, the procedure that saved my life, the D&C, is something doctors cannot perform in states where matters of life and death have been left up to non-medical Christian-supremacist superstitions.

I know the pain Amber Thurman felt when that placenta dislodged and carved its tiny, treacherous hole in her uterine wall. I know the terror she felt when she saw the blood, and the rush of dread when she thought of what her child would do without her.

And when I vote in November for Kamala Harris and every progressive down-ballot candidate, I will do it because she can’t. And I will do it so that women in Georgia and Idaho and Texas and North Dakota and South Dakota and Utah, Arizona, Nebraska Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, South Carolina, and West Virginia won’t have to meet the same completely preventable doom.

This election isn’t just about Amber Thurman. Every day of my lucky, breathing life is about Amber Thurman. Because the only thing that separates us, is one of us bled out under the right Supreme Court.

Let’s raise absolute federal hell about it.

-- From Bess Kalb's newsletter The Grudge Report. I pay for this substack -- though it's free-- and think this is a message worth sharing far beyond her newsletter.

[hindahoney]

Sorry for this but as a disabled Haitian black woman living in America, I cannot sympathize nor agree with Israel’s actions against Palestinian people and their own people. What they did to Ethiopian Jewish Women when they they sterilized them with their consent. I cannot support Israel ruthlessly bombing churches, schools, and people’s homes where people live. I feel so bad for the Palestinian people and hostages who have to deal with ruthless bombng in Gaza.

The lie that Israel sterilized Ethiopian women has been debunked countless times, and yet it persists and is used by pro-Palestinians to be like "Look! Israel really is apartheid!" so that you don't ask them why they have had black Ethiopian Jewish man Avera Mangisto hostage for 9 years, or why they beheaded a black man during the Hamas attacks with a shovel. So let's talk about it.

Israel never forcibly sterilized Ethiopian women. They provided them with the depo shot, which needs to be renewed every 12 weeks or it becomes ineffective, or in other words, you can get pregnant again. It is not sterilization.

So, why did Israel give Ethiopian women the depo shot?

Ethiopian women arrived to Israel in either transit or refugee camps due to them fleeing a genocide, both of which are always in constant need of birth control. They need birth control for a few reasons, the major one being that infant and maternal mortality rates in transit and refugee camps are incredibly high, few gynecologists are available to work at these camps, sexual violence is also higher in these camps than the general population, and post-partum care is lacking for the same reason that gynecologists are. This is true in every transit or refugee camp, not just in Israel. The advantage of the depo shot specifically is because it decreases the bleeding for women on their menstrual cycle, which is good when the camps are lacking in menstrual products, which can lead to health problems. If they were to get pregnant at the camp and decide to have an abortion, the mortality rates are, as predicted, incredibly high. I would also like to add that it is standard procedure to provide women in refugee/transit camps with birth control.

Due to the high volume of people at these camps who need medical care, and the shortness of staff, as well as a language barrier, it is possible some patients do not understand what is being administered. This means that it is a case of negligent medical care, and not eugenicist sterilization of black women. The conditions since the initial absorption of Ethiopian refugees has increased, given that there is no longer a rush to get them situated, and the Ethiopian population in Israel has grown substantially. That could not happen if the women were sterilized. Their population is now well over 160,000 and make up 2.3% of the population.

The accusation that Israel forcibly sterilized these women is as heinous as it is ridiculous, considering Israel was the one who did rescue operations to get them to safety in the first place. This is not to say that there is not racism in Israel, but there is racism in every country on the face of this planet, and Israel's racism is not so great that they forcibly sterilized an entire population of black women.

[fluffywings13]

So to the lovely anon who asked about poseidon and percy t fic....perhaps.....

But imagine a world where Poseidon and the Seafam play an active role in little baby Percy growing up. Despite Zues's asinine rules and laws and bullshit.

Posiedon is there. Amphitrite is there. Triton is there. Sally is there.

Takes a village to raise a child right?

Heres a small sneak peek!

Poseidon would not think to be accused of the same mistreatment of his only land born child in this century. “Come, my Prince, you can down it. Strong as your táta. Come to me my most precious of pearls.” The royal family lived by their own Laws, heeding none other, Zeus would never be so brazen enough to strike down the Sea God and his Immortal Family so near to his domain. Though calmed with age and time, Poseidon was still considered one of those among them not to temp, his unpredictable nature made him ever more dangerous then the Council combined. “A few more steps, just a few more, I await to hold you with an eagerness untold of.”

Their place of meeting was the beaches of Montauk, the Land Born child of the Sea living peacefully in the safe walls of the cabin only a few steps from the waves that reside in his blood lapping at the sandy ground underfoot. Furnished to the liking of one ever Spirited Sally Jackson with mixed artfully with the tones of the boy’s Divine Sea Ruling Family.

Percy Jackson knew not of a moment in his short but exuberant life of pain or as though part was missing, no stories of a missing father who supposedly held adoration for him despite his otherwise radio silence, no striking hand of an abusive step father. 

Giggling adorably is the nine month of Sea Prince, the breeze from the open expanse of waters behind the royals gathered just in the rolling surf ruffles through the boy’s squid ink black hairs, eyes that change hues based on emotion maintain a glow of the same shine of his dearest táta awaiting his arrival with hardly concealed excitement. Witnessing one’s babe take their first steps was a celebratory occasion transcending mortality. Poseidon hadn’t been there to witness his youngest Prince's true first cruising but he nor his wife and elder son had wasted even a thought of a moment when the prayer of their mortal counterpart reached their ears in the depths of the child reaching this momentous milestone. 

Amphitrite maintains the ability not to laugh at her dearest husband’s excitement, especially so when the same hands though smaller in size are seen reaching from her other side, father and son share only a moment of a glance, a challenge to see whom the babe will come to first initiated in their shared glance of silence. 

And Triton had claimed no fondness for the babe.

Giggling with her baby, Sally holds both tiny hands tight and secure as she simply assists her treasure in his stumbly pundy legged amble to those who await him at the waters edge, Percy pauses for only a moment to glance between his papa and big brother both of whom beckoning him forward.

Let it be known on the record that Poseidon, Lord of the Seas, is a dirt rotten cheater. His wife laughing openly at his side as their son reaches around her to smack his Father’s arm with the accusation being spoken into existence as the demi-god ambles into the Sea Lord’s waiting embrace. She takes a moment to observe her husband, simply take him in for a moment of observation, as he crows in elation to the sight of his youngest son’s first steps. The way his eyes glow in a manner she hasn’t seen in…Since his first of his many halfing children…his deep rumbling laughter in tune with the infants youthful pitched squeals as he lifts him from the gentle waves among the the shore up above his head.

[itsabouttimex2]

Plot Idea: Azure Lion unknowingly had a child with his lover before his defeat and death at the hands of Sun Wukong. Subsequently leaving his lover (and future Cub) to live on without him. Maybe their mother passes away during their birth? The kid long out lives their human family and their friends and their village.

Alone, sad and bored they go off on their own to explore the city that they’ve heard traveler’s passing through their village speak off. Megapolis is a bit overwhelming for them at first but they come across Pigsy’s Noodles. Pigsy seeing this borderline feral kid looking in his shop hesitated on shooing them away and offers them some food, a few years later MK arrives and the rest is history…

They finally meet Azure with MK and Mei trying to get the scroll. The kid has no idea that he’s their dad and Azure is just shocked to see them. He sees both himself and his old lover in their features.

His kid feels extra betrayed and he can see it in their eyes when the group confronts the now reunited brotherhood. They are 100% on MK’s side and don’t hesitate to fight with the group.

Maybe they land some heavy enough hits the Azure has to leave them behind or maybe he’s able to capture them and force them to come along with him and his brothers. Though with their rather vicious stubbornness they might be more of a hinderance to his quest than he’d like. Maybe he traps them in the scroll and keeps them on his waist like he does with Wukong?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this idea 💖

Leonine Love

This is a really fun (and kinda sad) idea! I’m a big fan, actually! I loved this so much that I wrote a little (admittedly, non-yandere) intro because this is such a creative and interesting story idea.

Just… Lion!Y/N being pried from the arms of their dead mother, taken in by humans who recall Azure not as a delusional tyrant but a hero, recalling his mighty blade and fondness for mortals. How he knelt to level with children, how he stopped to help with the harvest. Feeling as though they owe him, the village takes you in and raises your as their own, watching in awe as your leonine ears and tail come in, marveling at the cyan growths.

Through a few generations you grow from infant to child, just in time for the legends of your father’s exploits to be consigned from legend to rumor, and now all the love you were lavished with has turned to dust.

To these new folk you are more fixture than family, an ever-present individual that they merely accustom to.

No more praise or warm embraces, no further tales of your ‘heroic papa’. All that you know about him is written on an old scroll that none are allowed to touch. Each story has been carefully penned, allowing you to preserve the legacy of a father you’ve never met.

With that scroll, a notable stash of pilfered money, and the clothes on your back… you bid farewell to a village that is no longer home, trudging out to find somewhere new.

And what name do you hear again and again?

Megapolis.

A few kind strangers help you along the way, hikers and hermits pointing you to the illustrious city and sharing supplies with what they take as a hapless child.

It feels too much like how you were treated by the original villagers, a communal child to be cherished and loved. Still, you thank them and leave, still intent on seeing this city with your own two eyes.

Of course, you’ve spent all your life in a slow and quiet village, so nothing has prepared you for even a single neon billboard, much less an entire futuristic city of light and noise, electric sugar for the eyes and ears.

The photonic onslaught of blinding light sears your eyes, leaving you disoriented and dizzy. Your stomach turns in circles, empty and begging for food. A strange black post that reaches to the sky blares with sound, causing you to scatter into the back alleys.

Any note of wonder at the electric rainbows and thrumming music is dashed by now, leaving you to curl up and sob, paws clamped tightly over your ears. There’s no one to wipe your tears or ask you not to cry, no one to tell you to be strong and brave. All you can do is crawl into the nearest discarded cardboard box, feeling like a coward and an outcast as you weep yourself to sleep.

And you wake up in a cozy little store, wrapped up tight in a two-tone changpao. A scholar argues at the front counter, the porcine demon behind it looking at you cautiously.

“They’re starving, Pigsy! You can see their ribs poking out, can’t you?!”

“I can see that! I’m just not sure about feeding a demon, Tang…”

“You’re a demon! A pig demon!”

“No, that’s different! I am a perfectly respectable noodle-chef! Not some damn ‘pig demon’!”

Hic. Sniff.

The little pitiful noises draw their attention, looking upon your quivering form with split reactions.

The scholar is worried, clearly. There’s a kindness in his eyes that looks almost ancient, like it’s been passed from generation to generation. He nudges his… friend? Rival?

You can’t tell what their relationship is, really.

The pig isn’t unkind with his gaze or words- cautious, maybe a little nervous. But he grumbles to himself at the sight of tears, stomping off to his kitchen and turning on the stove.

“You better be right about this kid, Tang…”

The scholar- Tang, then, comes to you and ushers your shivering and scrawny form onto a chair, pulling the changpao tighter around you.

“It’s alright, dear,” his soft voice promises. “Just sit down and try to relax. We’ll get a nice bowl of noodles ready for you-“

“There’s no ‘we’ about this, Tang!” Calls Pigsy, his voice booming above the clatter of metal and the sizzle of oil.

Actually, they do remind you of something- the old couples in your village who had been together a little too long and thus grown sick of one another.

But those were always men and women, weren’t they?

Tentatively, you wipe your eyes and ask:

“Are you two married?”

———————————————————————-

“That’s how we met Y/N,” Tang cheerfully explains, patting your head as you fixate your eyes on the ground.

The child (or is he a toddler?) -MK, as your fathers are calling him, looks up at you, stumbling over to your slowly swishing tail. “Kitty,” he says, a new animal he’s learned from the children’s books that you gave him. Tang had gifted them to you not long after he had convinced Pigsy to take you in, and now you had given them to the new kid.

New. Younger. Cuter. No demonic features. No fangs or sharp pupils or sheathed claws.

Are you being replaced?

“Kitty,” the little one repeats, tugging on the cyan fur of your tail. “Meow.” The babbling of a toddler or at least a very young child, stilted and happy. “Kitty.”

“Very good,” Tang praises, clapping his hands to provide encouragement. “What other animals do you like, MK?”

You step out of the room just as the adorable little thing starts to make loud oinking noises.

The storage room is tiny, just big enough to fit a few people and a cleaning cart. It’s fortified in case of emergencies, serving as a tornado shelter. You’ve spent a few prospective storms in here, clinging to Pigsy and sniffling at the sound of blaring sirens. Thankfully, nothing bad had ever even come close to happening, and eventually you shifted to viewing it as almost a break from the world. Just you and your…

Guardian. Boss. Caretaker.

You want to add father to that list. But taking that first step is a terrifying ordeal, and would involve putting yourself through a potential rejection.

You don’t think you could recover from that.

Another person enters the storage room, one hand on your shoulder. It’s not rough or big enough to be Pigsy. Not warm enough, either.

“Y/N? Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine, Mister Tang.” Too fast. The words slur together, a falsity even by the first second you speak.

The freeloader sighs, lightly moving to tilt your chin up, meeting you eye-to-eye.

“You don’t come to hide in here when things are ‘fine’, dear. And you don’t slur your words like that, either. Why not tell me what’s wrong?”

“…do you think Pigsy likes MK better than me?”

“Wh-what? Y/N, why would you- dear, what’s going on?”

“…MK is a normal kid, isn’t he? He’s not some half-breed freak like me, and-“

“Y/N. I know you’ve been through a lot, but I don’t ever want to hear you say that again.”

A scholarly man with the build to match, Tang is far from strong. But he’s got just enough strength to pull you into his arms, letting you bury your head into the cloth covering his shoulder.

“Please, Y/N. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m scared that he doesn’t see me as his child,” you gasp out, clinging to Tang. “I’m not just his sous chef, tell me I’m not just his sous chef! Dad, please-“

“Dad?”

You break down a little further, legs giving out as your body struggles with the fearful anticipation of potential disappointment. You wait there against his chest, weeping.

“I don’t mind if you see me as a father figure, dear. If anything, I’m actually flattered. You don’t need to be worried about that.”

“Not mad?” You manage to spit out, face thoroughly drenched in your own tears.

“Not mad,” he confirms, patting your head. “Now, let’s dry those tears and get you something to eat. I talked Pigsy into making grilled cheese dumplings with canned tomato soup.”

A moment to compose yourself is taken, wiping your puffy eyes.

“Pigsy hates using canned food, though. He always says: “It’s a disgrace to my profession, using canned ingredients! There’s no alternative to fresh!” and then he’ll throw a spoon at whoever asked.”

“Well, MK loves them. And you know that Pigsy can’t say no to kids.”

And Tang was the only one who got spoons thrown at him, but he left that little bit out.

“Now, come on. Let’s get you to the bathroom to clean your face up. If Pigsy asks you can just say you got peppercorn dust in your eyes and needed a moment.”

The door opens, and you see the other half of this family, Pigsy and MK.

Family.

A real one, this time. Flaws and cons and stumbles thorned all along interwoven vines of love and adoration.

It wasn’t perfect.

But it was yours.

[tani-b-art]

It’s an older livestream but is resurfacing because of her recent sit-down with VP Harris (that “conversation” made people question why her points seemed so odd in addition to not very much action or solution was provided).

Dr. Jackie Walters…it is absolutely deplorable, dangerous and anti-Black that this sentiment is her actual feelings. She is part of the problem and for it to come from an actual Black (woman) OB-GYN is heinous. It’s scary. Putting more Black mothers at risk with these insane generalizations and stereotypes. (I see some folks saying because she herself has not had children that she wouldn’t know…it should not have to be because you can’t relate with not having children of your own that you somehow can’t be empathetic)!

“A bit more dramatic” and “cry wolf”. I’m heated!

I don’t care if that pregnant soon to be mommy comes to you twice a day for thirty days straight! There is a literal life growing inside of her. You don’t know what her body is experiencing (I mean, yes you do as a physician but it also is very personalized)! You should care for her well-being and her unborn’s well-being at every turn. Ease her concerns by showing compassion and empathizing AND most importantly assuring her that she’s being heard. And these women are selectively choosing you because you are a Black OB-GYN and a woman —assuming they’ll get better care given the horror stories we consistently hear when the physician isn’t Black and isn’t a woman.

The “a bit more dramatic” is probably because of your sentiments! So then consistently never being heard or taken seriously results in Black mothers-to-be having no choice but to be overly expressive in making their voices heard!

We know the stories of other Black pregnant women (non-famous & famous alike). We know the stats. We know the racism Black women receive from health care personnel who are not Black. We know the bias. We know the systemic racism and implicit bias. We know this all and it’s sickening to hear this come from her. Her Anti-Blackness is harmful.

((and taking days off from work during a woman’s pregnancy…wouldn’t that be the best time to use pto?? taking off a day or more is ideal during pregnancy. some jobs are already stressful as it is and showing up to work while also pregnant is double that for expecting mothers. what business is it of yours that she needs to request days off—she earned that))

[odinsblog]

Links:

• https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/16/1163786037/maternal-deaths-in-the-u-s-spiked-in-2021-cdc-reports

• https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/05/bill-cassidy-maternal-mortality-rates

• https://amp.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/mar/17/texas-black-women-maternal-healthcare-crisis-medicaid

• https://laist.com/news/health/april-valentine-childbirth-death-centinela-hospital-los-angeles-black-maternal-mortality-investigation

• https://people.com/health/tk-dad-raising-sons-alone-after-wife-dies-in-childbirth/

• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1246841

• https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/amp/wellness/story/calls-change-26-year-black-woman-dies-childbirth-71698417

• https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/calls-change-26-year-black-woman-dies-childbirth-71698417

• https://www.wsj.com/articles/black-mothers-in-new-york-are-more-likely-to-have-life-threatening-complications-in-childbirth-11597268700

• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/harris-pushes-make-black-maternal-health-national-priority-rcna24630

[reasoningdaily]

As the maternal mortality rate in Illinois rises, Black women are continuing to die at disparately higher rates during pregnancy compared to their white peers, according to data released today by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

On average, 88 pregnancy-associated deaths across races occurred in Illinois every year from 2018 to 2020, IDPH’s report reveals. About 110 people died in 2020 — the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, up from 70 deaths in 2019 and 83 in 2018. And the report determined that 91% of Illinois’ pregnancy-related deaths were potentially preventable.

But Black women were twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related conditions, like mental and behavioral health disorders, and three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related medical conditions, like chronic illnesses, as white women. The report points to Black women dying at higher rates primarily because of cardiovascular disease and other pre-existing chronic medical conditions.

For women across races, the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths is substance use disorder, which comprised 32% of the deaths over the three-year time frame. Many substance-related deaths stemmed from the use of opioids, an issue plaguing many other communities in Chicago and across the country, according to the report.

Illinois isn’t alone in troubling maternal mortality rates. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 1,205 women died of maternal causes in the U.S. in 2021, and Black women were three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.

To address the maternal death rate and racial disparities within it, the IDPH report makes recommendations, ranging from suggestions that hospitals and health systems create protocols and practices to identify and address social determinants of health to partnering with community-based organizations to provide more comprehensive pregnancy and postpartum care.

[nebulablakemurphy]

Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Part 10)

Jacob Black x Vampire!Swan Reader

Summary: Jacob Black, alpha of his pack, would never fall in love with a bloodsucker, much less imprint on one. The problem is that Y/N Swan was human…until she wasn’t anymore.

Series Masterlist

“What are you doing?” Y/N enters Carlisle’s makeshift operating room to find Bella on the table, writhing in pain. “Where’s Carlisle?” Only Edward, Alice and Rosalie are in attendance.

“He’s out hunting with Esme, they’re on their way back now.” Alice has him on the phone as if that will help.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Edward warns Y/N. “You haven’t fed recently and there will be blood.”

Y/N averts her eyes.

“She’s fine,” Jacob growls.

Alice’s gaze flits between them, the reddened skin on Jacob’s neck and Y/N’s honey colored irises. Oh.

“The placenta must have detached.”

“Get him out now,” Bella insists.

Edward jabs the syringe full of morphine into Bella’s outer thigh.

Rosalie is already holding the scalpel, poised to cut Bella open.

“What are you doing?” Y/N knocks her hand away. “Wait for it to spread.”

“He’s dying!” Bella protests, so sure that the child growing inside her is a son.

Edward looks to her, eyes on fire, pleading with her to just wait.

“Do it now.” Bella insists, no matter the cost.

Rosalie’s makes a clean slice across the bottom of Bella’s abdomen. Distracted by the blood and the hunger it brings.

Alice lunges at her, tackling the blonde to the ground and removing her from the room.

“It’s gonna be ok, Bella.” Y/N takes her hand as Edward works on delivering the baby. Tearing her apart.

Bella’s screams continue until Edward’s bitten through the amniotic sac. Her body is already in shock as the baby is placed into her arms.

“It’s Renesmee.” Edward tells her.

“She’s beautiful.” Bella gives a weak smile.

Y/N strokes sweat damp hair from her sister’s face. “You did it.”

Bella looks to Y/N. “Take care of her for me.”

Y/N nods, assuming she means over the next three days. “I will.”

Bella’s expression goes blank, unseeing eyes landing on Edward as her heart slows to a halt.

Edward takes Renesmee before she can fall from Bella’s arms. “Y/N, take the baby.”

Y/N reaches for the infant, cradling her gently. Bouncing from side to side out of instinct.

Jacob watches, mouth ajar. He imagines her rocking their own children, the ones they may never have.

“Please, Bella.” Y/N sobs. “Please.”

Edward injects his venom directly into Bella’s heart.

Jacob holds Y/N to him, mindful of the baby, as Edward continues pumping her unbeating heart. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

“No,” Y/N wails, “please no.”

“I’m sorry.” He repeats, knowing that this is only the beginning of her losses. She would lose Charlie and her mother and every mortal person she’s ever loved. “I’m sorry.”

The pack standing watch outside feels it through the bond, the grief sends a collective howl. Y/N’s pain is Jacob’s and theirs in turn.

Her suffering shoots through him like a physical blow. “What can I do?” He asks, desperately. “Y/N, just tell me what I can do.” Jacob is helpless, powerless to alleviate even an ounce of her agony.

“It should have been me.” Y/N crawls at his back, clinging to him. “I wish it was me.”

“You don’t mean that.”

Y/N shakes her head. She does mean it, she wishes she died back when she was still human. She wishes she could be human again, for Jacob to be human. She longs for the boy with long flowing locks and an easy smile to come save her. To change her back into the blushing girl with blood in her veins. She wants to grow old with him and have his babies. She wants to age out of this life when she’s done all she is meant to. All of that is gone now, like Bella is gone.

Her dying wish being for Y/N to help raise her child is especially cruel, even though Bella didn’t mean for it to be.

Renesmee begins to fuss, in tune with her aunt’s emotions.

“I’m sorry I’m like this.” There aren’t medications for vampires with depression. “I love you, I’m sorry.”

Jacob would tear his own heart out and give it to her on a platter. “There’s nothing to apologize for. You’re doing everything you can.”

“I’m broken.”

“You’re mine.” Jacob murmurs, “you’re mine.” If she’s broken he’ll fix her. If her life is empty then he’ll fill it. Pour all his time into her, his blood, his body, his love and make her whole again.

“I’m yours.” It is easy to mourn the dead, people are taught to do it all their lives. It’s much harder to mourn the living, to be haunted by their perpetual ghost. Jacob Black will haunt her for eternity, standing obediently at her side all the while.

This is about more than Bella, her momentary death only triggered it. That becomes apparent as her heart begins beating erratically while the venom transforms her.

Y/N is happy her sister is going to survive, but it doesn’t fix everything, it only lessens the blow.

————————————————————————

Bella’s transformation is quiet, she’s completely still from the morphine. A stark contrast from Y/N’s. But after the birth of her daughter, she deserves a peaceful beginning to her new life.

Y/N and Jacob take turns with Rosalie and the Cullens, caring for Renesmee who grows significantly each day.

The blonde vampire comes to collect the infant and Jacob takes the opportunity to get Y/N alone, leading her out towards the tree line.

“I want to marry you.”

Y/N flinches at his words. “I know,” she’s already agreed.

“I want to marry you now.” Jacob clarifies, “before we leave. I want Charlie and my dad to be there.”

“That makes perfect sense.”

“We’ve graduated, I have a ring, we’ve got the place lined up in Denali.”

“O-okay.” Y/N stammers.

“I’m going to get down on one knee and ask you.” Jacob warns her. “We can have a small wedding or a big one, whatever you want. We’re going to move to Alaska and start our new lives. I’m going to get you pregnant, no matter what I have to do and I’m gonna do it as many times as you want, okay? Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. All I want you to do is say yes.”

Y/N nods, watching him sink down on the grass, pulling a loose ring from his back pocket.

“This was my mother’s.” Jacob says, “if we need to keep up with the Cullens, I will save up the money to buy you a nice big rock.”

Y/N stares down at the engagement ring in question, a hand etched band adorned with little diamonds. “It’s perfect, I’m…are you sure?”

“I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life.” He stares up at her. “I’ll beg if you want me to.”

“No, don’t beg.” Y/N laughs, “I’ll marry you.”

Jacob slips the ring onto her finger, kissing her hand over the metal band. “Thank you.”

“I wish we had more time here.” Y/N confesses, “this feels so final.” Like they’ll never come back.

“There is something I’ve been thinking about, might buy us some time.”

“I’m all ears.”

————————————————————————

Charlie is chopping wood in the back yard when Jacob and Y/N pull up on the motorcycle.

“Dad.” Y/N calls, as not to startle him.

“Here,” Charlie beckons them to join him near the chopping block.

“Need any help?”

“I think I’ve got it covered. How’s Bella?”

“She’s ok,” Y/N smiles. “We were actually hoping we could talk about something else.”

Charlie cocks his head to the side, “what’s going on, kid?”

“Jacob and I are getting married,” Y/N holds out her hand.

Charlie adjusts his stance, “well, it’s been a long time coming.” Jacob asked his blessing months ago. “I’m happy for you.”

“Second thing,” Jacob cuts in, “it’s about Bella. She is better, but in order for her to get better…”

“She had to change.”

Charlie looks to his oldest daughter, running a hand over his face. “Like you changed?”

“Yeah,” Y/N admits.

“And you can’t tell me what that means, can you?” Charlie knows this game.

“I can’t, but Jacob can give you a rough idea, if you’re open to it.”

Charlie throws up a hand, “go for it.”

Jacob begins removing his clothing, handing them to Y/N.

“Jacob,” Charlie averts his gaze, “put your clothes on.”

“I know this may seem strange.” Jake kicks off his boots.

“No socks?” Y/N scrunches up her nose.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Charlie says, in disbelief.

“Stranger things happen everyday.”

“I doubt it.” Charlie fights the urge to cover his eyes, Jacob is down to his boxers.

Jake’s body heats up, sending smoke into the air as he phases into the reddish brown wolf Y/N has come to love.

Charlie stumbles backwards, landing on his behind and Y/N steps around her fiancé to help him up.

“It’s ok, Dad. It’s just Jacob.”

“I- do you turn into a big dog too?” Charlie whispers to his daughter.

Y/N chuckles, “no. This is my only form.”

“Oh thank god.”

Part 11

Series Taglist: @vxidnik @remembered-license @itscheybaby @cole22ann @the-tryhard-twihard @zheezs14 @adaydreamaway08 @xcastawayherosx @moneteguiza @stinkii-boii @theatrechic26 @sylum @irrelevant-86

[maya-the-surreal-soldier]

I've been developping my au a bit more, and i wanted to share some bits, namely: the fuck's up with the gods?

There are two main types of gods

•Crowned gods

(example: Narinder, Shamura, Kallamar .. etc)

•Crownless gods (parasite gods)

(example: The Fox)

There are a few differences other than the crowns, but lets lay down what they both do first

-All gods survive on devotion, its their lifeblood, if theres no devotion they die.

-all gods have phases, as in, infant god, young god, adult god, and it goes all the way up to eldrich

-both types of gods are around the same power level, parasite gods are just as powerful as any other, (if fed regularly)

Now the differences

Crowned gods

-theese gods can only absorb devotion, and devotion doesnt only come from pepole but from what they stand for,

Example: Heket absorbs devotion from starvation too, if anything starves she gets more powerful, this is passive devotion absorbtion , witch itself can barely keep alive a younger god, but can easily sustain an eldrich one

-crowned gods need their own Cults to survive

-their powers are limited to what they stand for,

-gods of good things (love, life, health, justice) have an even stricter limit, most of them cant even kill or they'll lose their crowns immedietly. And thus they get exploited often by mortals

-their children are not born gods automaticly

Crownless gods (Parasite gods)

-as their name suggests, they are parasitic, they cannot absorb devotion from shrines, they need to eat believers of other gods to survive, the more devoted the follower they ate was,the more devotion they got from it (duh)

-parasite gods are noticibly smaller in (adult) size than crowned ones, they grow just big enough to swallow their prey whole

-they dont stand for things, they are just gods, thus they dont have the kinds of limitations that crowned ones have

-crownless godhood is genetic, and every child of a parasite god is automaticly a parasite god.

-their telling sign is black eye whites , (though this bodily change only shows after the god reaches 'young godhood') and splitting jaws

Fun facts:

-The pantheon of gods (the event that caused 99% of the god population to die) was caused by and overpopulation of parasite gods, and One single Crowned god, to swore to kill every P.god

-most crowned gods hate parasite gods. (For understandable reasons)

-the fox is the last parasite god, (up until his kids are born)

[bolithesenate]

nonhuman traits/special characteristics Serennians exhibit*, in no particular order:

Normal vocal communication of Serennians often is accompanied by a number of supplemental clicks and chirps with distinct meanings.

Many exhibit a prey drive akin to predator species like Togruta. Young Serennian children have to be trained out of it.

Black hair and eyes are common characteristics and it is true black, not dark brown. In the case of eyes this interacts funnily with Chiss genetics sometimes, resulting in completely black eyeballs, which often gets 'corrected' surgically.

Their stomachs are strong enough to eat raw meat and are resistant to most common and several uncommon parasites. On the flip side most Serennians are very lactose intolerant.

Even in the grand scope of things they have a really low percentage of Force-sensitives when measured against their total population. Practically all Force-sensitives born on Serenno are from immigrant families, in fact.

Many have infrared vision, a boon from their Chiss heritage, but it causes a number of eye issues, especially as they grow older.

Generally a lot of eye issues lol. Eyes are easy to fuck up.

Roughly a third of the population sheds their sets of teeth three times, with a second adult set coming in roughly around 20 that has three sets of incisors and only one set of molars. Correlations have been found in a heightened red meat consumption in teenage years and the development of this characteristic.

Even with modern technology Serenno's native populace has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the Mid Rim, simply because the long tern effects of Sith Alchemy result in a lot of birth defects and stillborn. Many couples looking to conceive actually get themselves tested beforehand if there will be any heightened chance for genetic degeneration or other heritable issues. This issue (and the proximity to Mandalorian Space) have resulted in adoption being very popular. Or they marry outside of their planet.

* some of these are more common or more pronounced depending on the individual