In Episode 003: “Got It From My Momma: Moms, Babies + Improving Health Across Generations,” we talk about maternal deaths in the U.S., the concept of weathering, and Life Course Theory as a pathway to improving health for mothers and children by considering the context in which health behaviors are forged. Following are some of the sources that helped shape the story:
- Earlier this year, The New York Times Magazine ran a powerful feature story examining the physical toll racism and other factors take on the health of Black women and their babies, regardless of socio-economic status.
- Moving Life Course Theory Into Action: Making Change Happen, edited by Dr. Sarah Verbiest, is a practical handbook for applying the life course approach to work in the field of Maternal/Child Health.
- This 1992 study laid the foundation for the “weathering hypothesis,” a concept that has heavily informed public health research and work in areas including maternal/child health that is concisely explained (with visual aids) in this post from the Family Inequality blog by sociologist Philip N. Cohen.
- More than half of maternal deaths are preventable, says Ob/Gyn Alison Schneider in this USA Today opinion piece, which succinctly summarizes the dire state of maternal mortality in the U.S.