“I stepped into the all-familiar Michigan Medicine hospital. This time, however, my perspective was more than a little bit different. I had wandered these halls just weeks prior—not as a patient, but as a medical student. Now, I entered as an expectant mother.”
Maintaining vegan and vegetarian diets has gotten easier as the plant-based food options have become more widely accessible. While plant-based diets can be considered healthy in many ways, vegan and vegetarian expectant mothers may need to be more vigilant in understanding what they're consuming to ensure they're getting the proper nutrition during pregnancy.
The early childhood period shapes future health and well-being; young children depend on their caregivers to survive. The child-serving ecosystem is a broad network of individuals and systems affecting young children and caregivers. We review the role of relational health in this ecosystem.
It’s a painful statistical fact that Black babies die at higher rates than White babies—a fact all the more painful and tragic for those living with the realities of infant mortality. The difference in death rates is shared by developing and developed nations alike. But the trend can and must change.
In the US, Black women die from pregnancy-related complications at a much higher rate than the rest of the population. The majority of these deaths are preventable, introducing tough questions for health care. Through awareness and advocacy, says Kyle Nisbeth, we can ensure that these burdens are mitigated and that Black mothers and babies receive the care they need to thrive.
How can we support mothers in maintaining their identities in the workforce and advocate for breastfeeding and its benefits?