TBN #28

Save Our Mamas 🤰🫄🫃

Talking about mamas can get weird. If you need to skip this week’s newsletter, then I understand. You should take care of your emotions first. If you decide to continue reading, you will find information about the activist origins of Mother’s Day, maternal health, and how employers can support parents grieving pregnancy loss.

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Where did Mother’s Day come from, anyway?! I used to think it was an excuse to give your mom an extra gift while boosting greeting card and floral sales. According to this article, the holiday actually started as an effort to improve health, welfare and peace and ultimately, improving the lives of mothers.

It all began with Ann Reeves Jarvis, a lifelong activist who organized Mothers’ Day Work Clubs in the mid-1800s to educate women about the high infant mortality rate of the time. She also proposed a Mothers’ Friendship Day to promote peace between members of the Union and the Confederacy.

Julia Ward Howe was also an activist during her time and in 1870 she proposed a “Mother’s Day for Peace” event to promote peace and the eradication of war. She felt that mothers would be the most impacted by the outcomes of war.

Reeves Jarvis died in 1905 and her daughter, Anna, wanted to celebrate her mother’s life and activism by campaigning for a national holiday to honor all mothers. In the following year, on May 10, a Mother’s Day service was held to acknowledge all mothers.

Several years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that designated the second Sunday in May as a legal holiday, “Mother’s Day.” As a result of Ann, Julia, and Anna’s activism there is now a holiday to celebrate all mothers whether they are living or deceased.

While the history of Mother’s Day may not be well-known to everyone, there are many activists who continue to advocate for the health and well-being of mothers. There’s more to learn about issues facing today’s mothers—mamas, as I like to call them.

Let’s get into it…

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WEEKLY UPDATE

CLIFF NOTES: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

• May is Mental Health Month, National Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Heritage Month (U.S.), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Awareness Month, Haitian Heritage Month, Jewish-American Heritage Month, Older Americans Month. Check out the full list of heritage months and identity days on the blog.

• The first ‘pangenome’ - Researchers published a draft human ‘pangenome’ which they hope will capture more of human diversity. What’s a genome? It’s the complete set of DNA in an organism.

• TV and movie writers are on strike - 11,500 film and TV writers in the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents major studios like Amazon, Apple, Disney, Warner Bros., and Netflix. Writers are asking for better pay and job security.

• Diversity Ban Watch - Ohio proposes Senate Bill 83 which would ban public colleges from discussing diversity and climate change, ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training, ban faculty from going on strike during contract negotiations, and sever any ties with the Chinese government or Chinese schools.

BENTON’S BASICS: MATERNAL HEALTH

Long story short…

Maternal mortality rates (MMR), which are the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, are affecting people in our communities. As of 2021, the MMRs for Black and Hispanic mamas are 69.9 and 28, respectively. The MMR for trans mamas is unclear due to data collection methods. This week’s basics are focusing on maternal health for Black, Latina, and Trans mamas.

Black Maternal Health: According to the CDC, Black women are three times (3X) more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause compared to white women. This is due to a variety of factors including quality healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism, implicit bias, and access to fair opportunities for economic, physical, and emotional health. Learn how to help from Black Mamas Matter Toolkit.

Latina Maternal Health: Cardiovascular (heart) disease is the leading cause of death of new mamas. According to the American Heart Association, on average, 1 in every 16 Hispanic women, have coronary heart disease. Harsh outcomes of cardiovascular diseases disproportionately impact Hispanic and Latina mothers. The majority of Hispanic and Latina mothers (61%) are part of the workforce and often in low wage jobs which contributes to their health disparity. Learn more about AHA’s initiative to support Latina Maternal Health.

Trans Maternal Health: According to the LBGTQ Family Building Survey (2019), 63% of queer and trans people were thinking about becoming first-time parents or having more children. However, trans and gender nonconforming (TGC) mamas often face misgendering, discrimination and heteronormative attitudes when seeking healthcare. These experiences can lead to negative health outcomes and disparities within the TGC community. Learn more about gender affirming care to support trans parents.

TLDR: Maternal health, especially for Black, Latina and Trans moms, is a societal issue not an individual issue.

STUDY HALL: SUPPORTING PREGNANCY LOSS

Our current birth rate is about12 (12 births per 1000 people). In 2021, there were over 3.5 million births in the U.S. March of Dimes shared that 10-20% of pregnancies result in pregnancy loss. About 80% of pregnancy losses occur within the first trimester (before the 12th week of pregnancy). Currently, 1 in 4 companies offer paid leave for pregnancy loss. Due to its common nature and adverse mental health outcomes, it is important for employers to extend their bereavement and personal leave policies to mothers experiencing pregnancy loss.

Learn more about pregnancy loss leave

HOMEWORK: WORKIN’ MOMS

What I’m Watching 📺: Netflix’s Workin' Moms. I am sad this is their final season but it had a good run.

What I’m Listening To 🎧: The podcast,
How to stop finding your self-worth through your job (w/ Gloria Chan Packer).

What I’m Reading This Month 📚: I’m always working on developing new habits so I decided to pick up Atomic Habits by James Clear.

DANCE BREAK: BEAUTIFUL

I wanted to be cheesy and share Boyz II Men’s A Song for Mama. Instead, I’m sharing one of my favorite songs from Snoop Dogg and Pharrell.

Listen to the song

DOUBLE TAP: WHO I’M FOLLOWING

@myleik

Myleik is one of my favorite mamas to follow. She is the founder of CURLBOX and Myleik+Mommas, a community for moms to help them build their village “one connection at a time.”

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I’d love to hear from you!

What do you need to be better in work and in life? Send me a message or connect with me on social.

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