1
00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:07,000
Speaker 1: Hi everyone, I'm Katie Couric, and welcome to Next Question Today,

2
00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:10,760
Speaker 1: part two of our look at America's maternal mortality crisis.

3
00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,360
Speaker 1: If you haven't listened to Part one, I highly recommend

4
00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,200
Speaker 1: you start there. In it, we heard the devastating story

5
00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:22,440
Speaker 1: of how one mother, Kira Johnson, became a part of

6
00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,840
Speaker 1: a shameful statistic that between seven hundred and nine hundred

7
00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:31,800
Speaker 1: American women die every year from pregnancy and childbirth related causes,

8
00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:37,560
Speaker 1: and six of those deaths, including Kira's, could have been prevented.

9
00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,479
Speaker 1: Here's Kira's husband, Charles Johnson. What happened to Kira was

10
00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,159
Speaker 1: not just a medical tragedy with a medical catastrophe. Everything

11
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,559
Speaker 1: that could have went wrong, in fact did so. Not

12
00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,880
Speaker 1: only did that doctor failed Kira, but the hospital, in

13
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,480
Speaker 1: their policies and procedures, failed her. We learned that structural

14
00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,440
Speaker 1: issues like racism and sexism, as well as an increase

15
00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,160
Speaker 1: in medical interventions during labor, have led to more women

16
00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,560
Speaker 1: dying from pregnancy and childbirth today than they did thirty

17
00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,840
Speaker 1: years ago, a fact that makes the US the only

18
00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,720
Speaker 1: country in the developed world to see its maternal mortality

19
00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:22,039
Speaker 1: rate go up today. In Part two, we tackle my

20
00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,759
Speaker 1: next question, what is being done to better protect American

21
00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:31,480
Speaker 1: mothers from becoming a part of that horrifying statistic. She

22
00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:33,000
Speaker 1: was told it was a fluke, And here I was

23
00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,479
Speaker 1: looking at these data points and saying she wasn't a fluke.

24
00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,760
Speaker 1: She was actually part of a really important trend that

25
00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,679
Speaker 1: has not been covered in the US. For investigative reporter

26
00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,600
Speaker 1: Nina Martin, this question is a personal one. In two

27
00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,240
Speaker 1: thousand and fifteen, when she and her team at Pro

28
00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:53,240
Speaker 1: Publica began reporting their Lost Mother's Project, an investigation into

29
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:58,680
Speaker 1: maternal mortality, they found an alarming statistic that, in addition

30
00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:02,600
Speaker 1: to the deaths, there are fifty thousand women who nearly

31
00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:07,680
Speaker 1: die every year from pregnancy and childbirth related issues. And

32
00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,040
Speaker 1: we're not talking about like they have gestational diabetes and

33
00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,440
Speaker 1: then they cut back on you know whatever, um, the

34
00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:16,280
Speaker 1: the amount of sugar, the ice cream that they ate

35
00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,360
Speaker 1: in pregnancy and then everything is okay. We're talking about

36
00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,360
Speaker 1: women who, you know, go to the hospital and go

37
00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,399
Speaker 1: into cardiac arrest. We're talking about women who nearly bleed out.

38
00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:30,040
Speaker 1: We're talking about women who have life threatening um infections

39
00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,720
Speaker 1: that keep them hospitalized for weeks. And UM, that was

40
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,280
Speaker 1: really super interesting to me both because of the size

41
00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,640
Speaker 1: um again, which really was not what people were talking

42
00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,360
Speaker 1: about in the parenting magazine world that I had spent

43
00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:46,880
Speaker 1: some time in. But it also really connected with me

44
00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,919
Speaker 1: on a personal level because my sister had um given birth.

45
00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:57,120
Speaker 1: I've I've three sisters, three yeah, and um the oldest

46
00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:01,480
Speaker 1: of five. Nina Martin's sister Meal had given birth to

47
00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,480
Speaker 1: a boy named Aiden in Texas in two thousand. She

48
00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,959
Speaker 1: and her husband both had good jobs. She was a paralegal,

49
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,120
Speaker 1: he was a lawyer, and they had access to good

50
00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:17,520
Speaker 1: health care. She was very healthy, had a really good pregnancy,

51
00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,600
Speaker 1: and she nearly died after in her postpartum period she

52
00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:25,160
Speaker 1: had to very severe infections, one of which was they've

53
00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:27,639
Speaker 1: caught and fixed in the hospital, and the second one

54
00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:31,880
Speaker 1: which nearly killed her. And I remember going and trying

55
00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,120
Speaker 1: to help out at the time and how freaked out

56
00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,840
Speaker 1: everybody was, and then it was kind of over. People

57
00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,680
Speaker 1: said to her, you know, oh, well, you know this

58
00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,480
Speaker 1: never happened to anybody. We have no idea that we've

59
00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,400
Speaker 1: never seen anything like this before. And and also, um,

60
00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:49,600
Speaker 1: don't worry, you're a little head about it, because you're

61
00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,119
Speaker 1: fine now and your baby's fine, and go home and

62
00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,320
Speaker 1: live your life and be happy that everything's okay. And

63
00:03:55,400 --> 00:04:02,520
Speaker 1: so her experience was completely erased. Being a professional athlete,

64
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,000
Speaker 1: I just thought that will never happen to me. Olympic

65
00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,720
Speaker 1: runner Alison Felix became one of the fifty thousand women

66
00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,880
Speaker 1: who nearly died from pregnancy related complications in two thousand eighteen.

67
00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:20,200
Speaker 1: During her pregnancy, she was diagnosed with severe preclampsia, a

68
00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:24,560
Speaker 1: condition characterized by high blood pressure that puts mothers at

69
00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,640
Speaker 1: risk for stroke, among other things. The only cure for

70
00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:32,200
Speaker 1: severe cases like Allison's is to get the baby out.

71
00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,479
Speaker 1: So it just thirty two weeks she had to deliver

72
00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:40,800
Speaker 1: her daughter, Cameron, via emergency c section. It happened so

73
00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,440
Speaker 1: fast she didn't even realize how much danger she was

74
00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,640
Speaker 1: in during and after the birth. My family was definitely

75
00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,080
Speaker 1: very concerned, and I think that they were even more

76
00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:55,479
Speaker 1: concerned than I was, because obviously all of my attention

77
00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,960
Speaker 1: was on Cameron, and I was consumed with how she

78
00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:00,599
Speaker 1: was doing and all of that. Um But I was

79
00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,560
Speaker 1: still having issues with my blood pressure and we were

80
00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,239
Speaker 1: still trying to get that to be at a manageable level,

81
00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:10,200
Speaker 1: and so I was still in the hospital for several days.

82
00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:14,559
Speaker 1: After both Cameron and I were together, UM and uh

83
00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,279
Speaker 1: for several weeks. I was still trying to regulate my

84
00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,040
Speaker 1: own blood pressure. Today, both Alison and Cameron are happy

85
00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,320
Speaker 1: and healthy, but the six time Olympic gold medalists is

86
00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,680
Speaker 1: determined to not let her experience be erased. In May

87
00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,360
Speaker 1: of two thousand nineteen, she testified at a House Ways

88
00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,800
Speaker 1: and Means committee hearing about racial disparities in the maternal

89
00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:41,240
Speaker 1: mortality crisis. First, let me welcome this Alison Felix, United

90
00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,360
Speaker 1: States Track and Field star, nine time Olympic medalists, going

91
00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:50,400
Speaker 1: through this experience, UM, and just feeling so scared as

92
00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,359
Speaker 1: I went through it all. That was really the turning

93
00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,720
Speaker 1: point from me and talking to girl friends and UM,

94
00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,640
Speaker 1: just feeling like my friends are not even educated, you know,

95
00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,839
Speaker 1: on this topic. It really pushed me to share my story.

96
00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,880
Speaker 1: I'm a person who is, you know, more private, and

97
00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,159
Speaker 1: so it was definitely something that was out of my

98
00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,360
Speaker 1: comfort zone. My name is Alison Felix, and I am

99
00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,560
Speaker 1: Cameron's mom, and I would like to share the story

100
00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,640
Speaker 1: of the two most terrifying days of my life. What's

101
00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,320
Speaker 1: scary about Allison's story is that she didn't realize anything

102
00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:27,320
Speaker 1: was wrong until everything went very wrong. I had a

103
00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,320
Speaker 1: really great pregnancy. I was I knew I wanted to

104
00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,760
Speaker 1: come back to compete, so I was training. I was

105
00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,800
Speaker 1: pretty much training four or five days a week. I

106
00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,839
Speaker 1: was on the track, um, in the gym, in the pool,

107
00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,039
Speaker 1: so you know, really intentional with the idea that you know,

108
00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,599
Speaker 1: I was going to resume right back onto the track.

109
00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,120
Speaker 1: And at thirty two weeks, I went into the doctor

110
00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,760
Speaker 1: and I was just going for my routine checkup and

111
00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,279
Speaker 1: so went in and immediately when I came in, I

112
00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,760
Speaker 1: found out that I was spelling protein. And from there,

113
00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,400
Speaker 1: my doctor sent me straight to the hospital or further monitoring,

114
00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,159
Speaker 1: and um, it was not going well what they were seeing,

115
00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,279
Speaker 1: and so I was admitted right away and I spent

116
00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,119
Speaker 1: that night in the hospital. And that's when things really

117
00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,680
Speaker 1: started to go downhill. You know, I was diagnosed with

118
00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,800
Speaker 1: a severe case of pre clampsia, and um my blood

119
00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,560
Speaker 1: pressure was through the roof, and you know, the baby

120
00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,720
Speaker 1: was not doing well, and things happened just so quickly,

121
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,160
Speaker 1: and I was trying to wrap my head around what

122
00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,320
Speaker 1: was happening and trying to understand what was happening, and UM,

123
00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,680
Speaker 1: from there after that evening the next day, it continued

124
00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,400
Speaker 1: to get worse, and UM, we realized that it was

125
00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,440
Speaker 1: an emergency situation and that the only way out of

126
00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,120
Speaker 1: it was to have an emergency c section and to deliver.

127
00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,920
Speaker 1: So it was terrifying, you know, it was so far

128
00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,280
Speaker 1: from what my birth plan was and UM, just trying

129
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,720
Speaker 1: to understand, you know, what was really going on camera.

130
00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,400
Speaker 1: Just three pounds seven ounces when she was born and

131
00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,320
Speaker 1: was taken to the Nick you right away, where she

132
00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,480
Speaker 1: would stay for a month. But in addition to worrying

133
00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,160
Speaker 1: about her PREMI day in and day out, Allison also

134
00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,120
Speaker 1: had to heal from her own trauma. It was honestly

135
00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,920
Speaker 1: very difficult. UM, all of my energy and all of

136
00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:23,440
Speaker 1: my focus was really trying to be in the Nick

137
00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,400
Speaker 1: seven and I was so concerned with everything that was

138
00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,040
Speaker 1: happening with Cameron that UM, I felt very low on

139
00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,199
Speaker 1: that list. UM. If it wasn't for my support system,

140
00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,840
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know what if I would have

141
00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,720
Speaker 1: taken so much care for myself. But my family really

142
00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,880
Speaker 1: stepped up and UM, you know, made sure that I was,

143
00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,960
Speaker 1: you know, going to doctor's appointments, making sure that I

144
00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,120
Speaker 1: was taking my medication UM because I was still dealing

145
00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,240
Speaker 1: with the blood pressure even well after I was released

146
00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,200
Speaker 1: from the hospital. So having um other people helped me

147
00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,440
Speaker 1: was um enormous Because as I was spending you know,

148
00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:03,720
Speaker 1: night and day in the nick, you you could see

149
00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:08,400
Speaker 1: how someone without means, without a support system, without good

150
00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:13,080
Speaker 1: doctors or attentive doctors, could really fall through the cracks,

151
00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,840
Speaker 1: can't you so easily? I mean, and I didn't deal

152
00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:20,480
Speaker 1: with any postpartum depression, but I just kept thinking, Wow,

153
00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,720
Speaker 1: if that had kicked in as well, UM, how could

154
00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,880
Speaker 1: this have been manageable. It's just so much that it

155
00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,840
Speaker 1: can feel overwhelming, and so my heart goes out to

156
00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:32,960
Speaker 1: those two women who have to, you know, deal with

157
00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,440
Speaker 1: these extra things on top of having a newborn in

158
00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,400
Speaker 1: so many changes within your body. One of the biggest

159
00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:44,280
Speaker 1: reasons Alison has turned to advocacy is she wants to

160
00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:49,000
Speaker 1: get the message out her story can be anyone's story. Frankly,

161
00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:54,000
Speaker 1: it's something she wished she had known leading up. I

162
00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,679
Speaker 1: think that I was not UM prepared enough. You know,

163
00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,360
Speaker 1: I wasn't told what to look out for. I wasn't

164
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,720
Speaker 1: told that I was at risk UM, and so That's

165
00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,000
Speaker 1: something that I wish had gone differently. You know. I

166
00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:13,000
Speaker 1: think had I known beforehand what to look out for, um,

167
00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:15,360
Speaker 1: just that I was at risk, then I could have

168
00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,520
Speaker 1: wrapped my head more around, you know, a possible stay

169
00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:20,600
Speaker 1: in the Nike You and what that means and kind

170
00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,200
Speaker 1: of all of these things. But it was it was

171
00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,400
Speaker 1: terrifying to have to go through this ordeal and straight

172
00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,360
Speaker 1: into you know, I was still dealing with the symptoms

173
00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,480
Speaker 1: UM and the after effects of what I had been through,

174
00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:34,880
Speaker 1: and straight into now my daughters in the nick You

175
00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,960
Speaker 1: and what does life there look like? And I'm trying

176
00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,400
Speaker 1: to manage all of that as well. And when you

177
00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:43,000
Speaker 1: say you were at risk, what made you at risk

178
00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:46,240
Speaker 1: for this? Just being a black woman? That made me

179
00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:50,600
Speaker 1: at risk? And that is something that I didn't understand before.

180
00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,800
Speaker 1: You know, I had heard. But I know, I'm a

181
00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,439
Speaker 1: professional athlete, you know, I trained for a living, I'm healthy,

182
00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,440
Speaker 1: I know how to eat right. I exercised throughout my ignancy,

183
00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,319
Speaker 1: and I was um wanting to have this beautiful natural birth,

184
00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,439
Speaker 1: and so I just didn't think it would be me,

185
00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:12,520
Speaker 1: you know, And that is just such a misconception that um,

186
00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,080
Speaker 1: that I want to bring awareness to that women of

187
00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:21,600
Speaker 1: color are at risk. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research,

188
00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,080
Speaker 1: black women are at least fifty more likely to experience

189
00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:31,040
Speaker 1: preclampsia than white women. The effects are also more severe

190
00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,840
Speaker 1: and present earlier than in other races. Did your doctor

191
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:41,400
Speaker 1: ever even mentioned the term preclampsia? I don't recall, you know,

192
00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:45,440
Speaker 1: having that conversation, and so that's pretty scary looking back,

193
00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:48,840
Speaker 1: you know, I would have loved to know, you know,

194
00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,280
Speaker 1: these are the symptoms. These are things that you really

195
00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:55,160
Speaker 1: should pay attention to UM and just be on the

196
00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:57,920
Speaker 1: lookout for. Well, tell us what those are, because I

197
00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:03,000
Speaker 1: feel like people listening can learn from your experience. So

198
00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:07,000
Speaker 1: what are some of the symptoms swelling? Swelling is definitely

199
00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:08,520
Speaker 1: one of the big ones. But I think what makes

200
00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,960
Speaker 1: it also scary is that sometimes you don't have any symptoms,

201
00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,679
Speaker 1: and so I really feel like I fell into that category.

202
00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:18,120
Speaker 1: I mean, the swelling was one thing, but other than that,

203
00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:21,280
Speaker 1: I felt really good, and so that is really scary.

204
00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:25,080
Speaker 1: But UM headaches can be a symptom along you know,

205
00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:31,559
Speaker 1: the swelling. UM also rapid weight gain, UM, vomiting. So

206
00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,559
Speaker 1: there are some things to be on the lookout for,

207
00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:39,760
Speaker 1: but really more than anything consistent, your consistent healthcare. Because

208
00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,600
Speaker 1: once you go in to have your appointment and you

209
00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,839
Speaker 1: see that you're spelling protein, that is an indicator, um,

210
00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,720
Speaker 1: right there, that something is not right. Spelling protein means

211
00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,080
Speaker 1: protein in your urine, so there's successive amounts of it

212
00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,440
Speaker 1: and your urine. It's interesting, do they understand why Black

213
00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,760
Speaker 1: women are at higher risk other than just the sheer

214
00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:03,320
Speaker 1: no bursts of women who experienced preclampsia. Yes, I mean,

215
00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,160
Speaker 1: I'm far from an expert on this, but from my understanding,

216
00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,640
Speaker 1: that is what we need more research to be done,

217
00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:12,480
Speaker 1: um and to be able to understand because some of

218
00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,800
Speaker 1: the contributing factors that we know about, you know, not

219
00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:19,720
Speaker 1: having as high of healthcare, we're seeing this happen in

220
00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,839
Speaker 1: really privileged black women. Beyonce reveals for the first time

221
00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,360
Speaker 1: the harrowing emergency she had while pregnant with twins in

222
00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:33,079
Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen. Beyonce also suffered preclampsia during her pregnancy

223
00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,840
Speaker 1: and had to deliver her twins via emergency C section.

224
00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:42,160
Speaker 1: Tenn's great Serena Williams with baby Alexis Olympia shares her

225
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,760
Speaker 1: harrowing ordeal for Serena Williams, it was something else Entirely

226
00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:51,160
Speaker 1: after giving birth via emergency C section, Serena had to

227
00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,040
Speaker 1: beg staff to take her pain and her understanding of

228
00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:58,640
Speaker 1: her own body seriously. She nearly died first of a

229
00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:03,439
Speaker 1: blood clot and then a hemorrhage. If Serena Williams struggles

230
00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:06,520
Speaker 1: to be heard, it's clear this isn't just a matter

231
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:11,000
Speaker 1: of access to good care. I think a big factor

232
00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,439
Speaker 1: in it, as well as having to advocate for your

233
00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:17,840
Speaker 1: own for yourself UM. For some reason, either the tolerance

234
00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:21,320
Speaker 1: of pain or black women's pain in general is not believed,

235
00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,160
Speaker 1: and that is something that has to change. Do you

236
00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,840
Speaker 1: think racism played a role in your your experience looking back,

237
00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:35,160
Speaker 1: I it's really hard to pinpoint, but I think that

238
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,480
Speaker 1: there might have been some of that implicit uh bye

239
00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:43,000
Speaker 1: is going on in my UM doctor's appointments previously. Really

240
00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,880
Speaker 1: why you know, do you think that that the doctor

241
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:51,560
Speaker 1: whoever your doctor was, was educating, say, a white patient.

242
00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:55,120
Speaker 1: More about this, I think when when I look back,

243
00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,080
Speaker 1: I guess it definitely wasn't outright, that was not my

244
00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:02,280
Speaker 1: situation at all. But the fact that I that this

245
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,680
Speaker 1: wasn't a conversation that I wasn't discussed, especially as you said,

246
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,840
Speaker 1: since you were at greater risk. Yes, I feel like

247
00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,160
Speaker 1: every woman of color you know immediately that you should

248
00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:17,040
Speaker 1: be sat down and explained that you know, this is

249
00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,520
Speaker 1: something you're at risk for. Do you think had you

250
00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:23,520
Speaker 1: not had the resources that you have, had you not

251
00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,560
Speaker 1: been an Olympic athlete, had you not been able to

252
00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:31,240
Speaker 1: get the best medical care possible, that there's a chance

253
00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,600
Speaker 1: that you might not be here. I think it's a

254
00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:37,840
Speaker 1: possibility for sure. And that is what really is scary

255
00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,480
Speaker 1: to me. And that's what really wanted me to open

256
00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,040
Speaker 1: up and to share my experience in my story, because

257
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:46,960
Speaker 1: I felt like, you know, I had the best of

258
00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,680
Speaker 1: the best, you know, and I still ended up in

259
00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:51,920
Speaker 1: a situation that was really scary and that we weren't

260
00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,880
Speaker 1: sure about. And if I'm experiencing this, someone who might

261
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,880
Speaker 1: not have the best of health care, or might not

262
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,840
Speaker 1: have even been heard to the level that I was,

263
00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:07,120
Speaker 1: might not have made it. When we come back how

264
00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:11,160
Speaker 1: some states are managing to turn their maternal mortality rates around.

265
00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,640
Speaker 1: In Part one, we met Deborah Bingham, a registered nurse

266
00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,640
Speaker 1: with a doctorate in public health who spent her career

267
00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,160
Speaker 1: focusing on improving the health of moms and babies. In

268
00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:36,200
Speaker 1: two thousand and six, as the founding executive director of

269
00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:42,040
Speaker 1: California's first Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, Deborah learned that California's

270
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:46,440
Speaker 1: maternal mortality rate had actually been going up. We then

271
00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,960
Speaker 1: sought permission to talk about this in small groups. As

272
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,520
Speaker 1: we went around organizing the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative,

273
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,840
Speaker 1: I would hear gaps in the room from the clinicians

274
00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,840
Speaker 1: in that space, so that would be physicians, registered nurses,

275
00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,240
Speaker 1: and midwives who were running hospitals leading uh and also

276
00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:14,080
Speaker 1: public health leaders literally gasping at this was brandon news.

277
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:18,080
Speaker 1: Nobody had expected this. We did not think that it

278
00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,879
Speaker 1: would be on our watch that we would see this rise.

279
00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:24,760
Speaker 1: Deborah and her committee of experts reviewed three years of

280
00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,960
Speaker 1: maternal deaths that occurred in the state, and one of

281
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,800
Speaker 1: the things they found was that death by hemorrhage could

282
00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:35,359
Speaker 1: often be prevented. We found that there was quite a

283
00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:38,480
Speaker 1: bit of denial and delay had led to these deaths,

284
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,639
Speaker 1: meaning that women were not um the severity of the

285
00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:47,879
Speaker 1: hemorrhage was not recognized early enough. They We're not getting

286
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:53,760
Speaker 1: blood early enough, which is life saving. Obviously and um

287
00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:57,000
Speaker 1: and so a lot of our efforts became around how

288
00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:03,399
Speaker 1: to eliminate this denial and delay, how to better recognize hemorrhages,

289
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,159
Speaker 1: how to better prepare. What Debora ultimately did was to

290
00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:11,720
Speaker 1: help create a standardized action plan to help tackle potentially

291
00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:16,720
Speaker 1: fatal complications like hemorrhage. Debora refers to these plans as

292
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:21,439
Speaker 1: quality improvement toolkits or safety bundles. They can be implemented

293
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,760
Speaker 1: in hospitals in different ways, but they typically include a

294
00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:31,200
Speaker 1: checklist of the four rs or steps to improve readiness, recognition, response,

295
00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:35,239
Speaker 1: and reporting so that women receive life saving medications and

296
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:39,199
Speaker 1: treatments in time. In addition to the hemorrhage safety Bundle,

297
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:43,879
Speaker 1: there's also one for preclampsia and reduction of C sections.

298
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,840
Speaker 1: And I think my years of being in a frontline

299
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:51,280
Speaker 1: position in the hospitals and actually running hospitals and knowing

300
00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,280
Speaker 1: how busy you are in those in those roles, helped

301
00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:59,080
Speaker 1: me put together a model that would be very practical,

302
00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,200
Speaker 1: uh and also just kind of cut through a lot

303
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,720
Speaker 1: of cripheral information and what would it take to actually

304
00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,760
Speaker 1: really save lives and what did people really need to do?

305
00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:14,560
Speaker 1: Safety bundles also include preparation protocols like running simulation drills

306
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,720
Speaker 1: and huddling with staff and family as the mother is

307
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,840
Speaker 1: being admitted to the hospital to assess possible risks she

308
00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:27,200
Speaker 1: may have. California is one of the only states that

309
00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,560
Speaker 1: has seen a rise in maternal mortality and also a

310
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:34,600
Speaker 1: decrease in fact um. Their data shows that in a

311
00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:39,439
Speaker 1: five year period UH that there was about a fifty

312
00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:46,359
Speaker 1: decrease in pregnant in maternal mortality, and that was unbelievably

313
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:52,000
Speaker 1: unexpected that we would see that decrease so quickly. Back

314
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,399
Speaker 1: in two thousand and six, California's maternal mortality rate was

315
00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:01,760
Speaker 1: just shy of seventeen deaths per one thousand live births. Today,

316
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,760
Speaker 1: that number, according to an investigation by USA Today, has

317
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,320
Speaker 1: dropped to four deaths in one hundred thousand. That's the

318
00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:12,840
Speaker 1: lowest maternal mortality rate in the country, and now other

319
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,360
Speaker 1: states are trying to follow suit. New Jersey has one

320
00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:19,680
Speaker 1: of the highest national rates, at thirty six point two

321
00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:23,920
Speaker 1: deaths per one hundred thousand live births. Deborah Bingham has

322
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:26,440
Speaker 1: joined a team in New Jersey to turn that around.

323
00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:31,280
Speaker 1: The initiative, launched in two thousand nineteen is called Nurture

324
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,520
Speaker 1: New Jersey. New Jersey is the medicine cabinet of America

325
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,320
Speaker 1: and has some of the finest hospital systems in the

326
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:43,399
Speaker 1: United States. First Lady Tammy Murphy is the driving force

327
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:49,720
Speaker 1: behind this new initiative. So my naive assumption was that

328
00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:55,719
Speaker 1: this all centered around access to prenatal care. And you know,

329
00:20:55,880 --> 00:21:00,520
Speaker 1: it became immediately clear after going on a listening to

330
00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,520
Speaker 1: her all around the state and speaking with all stakeholders,

331
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,280
Speaker 1: whether they be the hospital systems, foundations, nurses, dulas, midwives,

332
00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:13,239
Speaker 1: any stakeholders who were out there, that the problem was

333
00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:19,040
Speaker 1: much more complicated than I had assumed. Um, the problem

334
00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:21,400
Speaker 1: is truly if you're going to look at this, it's

335
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:27,680
Speaker 1: systemic racism and implicit bias, and it brings in all

336
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:32,280
Speaker 1: the social determinants of health. And so our goal is

337
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:39,159
Speaker 1: to uh not only reduce maternal mortality by over five years,

338
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:43,120
Speaker 1: but it's also to eliminate racial disparities and birth outcomes.

339
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,560
Speaker 1: Tammy Murphy says, despite the new challenges posed by the

340
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:51,239
Speaker 1: coronavirus pandemic, the work of Nurture New Jersey continues, and

341
00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,880
Speaker 1: considering the fact that racial health disparities have only been

342
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:58,639
Speaker 1: exacerbated by the spread of COVID nineteen. She says this

343
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:04,119
Speaker 1: work is more relevant and necessary than ever. There's good

344
00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:07,520
Speaker 1: news for pregnant women and mothers all over the country.

345
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,240
Speaker 1: At the end of two thousand eighteen, Congress passed groundbreaking

346
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:16,200
Speaker 1: legislation called the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act. The law addresses

347
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,880
Speaker 1: one of the fundamental problems at the heart of the crisis,

348
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:23,399
Speaker 1: the severe lack of reliable data about what actually kills

349
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 1: American mothers. That was a very important piece of legislation

350
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,200
Speaker 1: that Congress passed. Again, Nina Martin, the set aside a

351
00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 1: lot of money for states to create maternal mortality review committees,

352
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 1: to standardize them UM, to make them much more robust,

353
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,919
Speaker 1: much more helpful, um much more efficient than they have

354
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,960
Speaker 1: been in the past. That's really incredibly important. A lot

355
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: of states when we started this process didn't even have

356
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,920
Speaker 1: maternal mortality committees, and now almost all of them do.

357
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,920
Speaker 1: The ones that did have them have UM improved to them,

358
00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,320
Speaker 1: and so that's a that's a huge change. We're learning

359
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,120
Speaker 1: so much from that process. Some states are also trying

360
00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:13,359
Speaker 1: to tackle the issue of insurance Medicaid finances. Nearly half

361
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,880
Speaker 1: of all births in the United States, Yet new mothers

362
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:21,320
Speaker 1: on Medicaid are only guaranteed care for two months after

363
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,840
Speaker 1: they deliver. What states are trying to do is to

364
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,760
Speaker 1: change the rules that allow women to continue to have

365
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:33,000
Speaker 1: Medicaid for the full year along with their babies postpartum.

366
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 1: And so that means, you know, a lot of support

367
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:41,520
Speaker 1: for mental health, for substance use disorders, for cardiac problems,

368
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,239
Speaker 1: all the things that we know are killing women in

369
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,359
Speaker 1: that first year. What we know from the from the

370
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:53,399
Speaker 1: data is that most maternal deaths don't happen during pregnancy.

371
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,520
Speaker 1: They don't happen in the hospital. They happen um when

372
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,160
Speaker 1: women go home, they go They happen in the postpartum period. Um,

373
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,440
Speaker 1: they happen, you know, sometimes it's a week, sometimes it's

374
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,919
Speaker 1: two weeks, Sometimes it's a month, Sometimes it's up to

375
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:12,080
Speaker 1: a year. So it's incredibly important for women to understand

376
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:18,000
Speaker 1: that and for doctors and nurses and midwives and everybody

377
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 1: to understand how risky the postpartum period is, and also

378
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 1: to give women the information that they need to be

379
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:36,480
Speaker 1: able to recognize concerning symptoms. According to the c d C,

380
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:40,359
Speaker 1: thirty six percent of pregnancy related deaths occur up to

381
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:45,399
Speaker 1: one week after giving birth, and then another thirty happen

382
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,359
Speaker 1: up to a year postpartum, and it's impossible to predict

383
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,200
Speaker 1: which women will suffer such fatal complications, which is why

384
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,040
Speaker 1: Deppa being Him says it's important that all women are

385
00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:02,200
Speaker 1: educated on symptoms. Her organization, the Institute for Perinatal Quality Improvement,

386
00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:06,520
Speaker 1: is helping hospitals do just that. We actually made one

387
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 1: hand out called Savior Life hand Out, which it outlines

388
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,680
Speaker 1: all of those post birth warning signs. So that's to

389
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:18,440
Speaker 1: help empower women to know when to seek care. Warning warning.

390
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:21,560
Speaker 1: My name is Stephanie. I'm going to be your discharged

391
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,320
Speaker 1: that I needs to meet you. Congratulation. N y U

392
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:27,920
Speaker 1: Land Gone in New York City is just one hospital

393
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 1: that has put Deborah Savior Life hand out to use

394
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 1: as part of its postpartum discharge education. But sometimes it's

395
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,879
Speaker 1: hard for overwhelmed new moms to absorb critical information about

396
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 1: life threatening health issues. So n YU now sends families

397
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,600
Speaker 1: home with a Savior Life Magnet, which reminds moms so

398
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 1: the symptoms they need to be aware of. I have

399
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,159
Speaker 1: this really helpful acronym here, it's post birth. So p

400
00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 1: IS stands for a painting your chest, OH stands for

401
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 1: obstructive breathing or shortness of us. S stands for seizures,

402
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 1: and T stands for thoughts of harming yourself or your

403
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:10,920
Speaker 1: baby the birth part. I really encourage all women that

404
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:14,240
Speaker 1: if they just aren't feeling like things are right, to

405
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:19,119
Speaker 1: not give up asking for someone to intervene, someone to

406
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:24,000
Speaker 1: look closer, who not just ignore their symptoms. A lot

407
00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 1: of women are very good at ignoring their symptoms. For

408
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,320
Speaker 1: most women, the first time they see a doctor is

409
00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,880
Speaker 1: six weeks after giving birth, which is why the postpartum

410
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 1: period can be so dangerous. But there's a way to

411
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 1: fill this alarming gap in healthcare. According to Monica Malcolmore,

412
00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 1: the reproductive health Injustice researcher we heard in part one,

413
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,719
Speaker 1: she says insurance can make room for other systems of

414
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,639
Speaker 1: support like midwifery. For example, they see people three days postpartum,

415
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,040
Speaker 1: they see them seven days postpartum, they see them ten

416
00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:59,560
Speaker 1: days postpart there's a more frequent visitation postpartum and also

417
00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:07,080
Speaker 1: do us. Doulas are lay professionals in community that provide spiritual, informational,

418
00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:12,800
Speaker 1: and physical support to pregnant people across the pregnancy. In

419
00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:15,480
Speaker 1: my mind, they are an essential member of the healthcare team,

420
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,960
Speaker 1: and we need to integrate team based care because those

421
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,159
Speaker 1: are individuals who can move with pregnant people through time,

422
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,720
Speaker 1: as opposed to managing the time of birth, which is

423
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,359
Speaker 1: a lot of what we do clinically. There are another

424
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,680
Speaker 1: pair of eyes to sort of help us keep pregnant

425
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,439
Speaker 1: people safe and alive, and we need to own that

426
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:35,919
Speaker 1: at some point and figure out how to finance that.

427
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,920
Speaker 1: The other crucial element here to keep mothers safe after

428
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 1: giving birth is making sure they don't have to rush

429
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,679
Speaker 1: back to work. I like to remind people that we

430
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:47,919
Speaker 1: actually have no paid family leave in the United States.

431
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,240
Speaker 1: If people can have the time that they need knowing

432
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:51,919
Speaker 1: that they're not going to lose their job or that

433
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:53,880
Speaker 1: they don't have to go back to work too soon,

434
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 1: then we could go a really long way in reducing

435
00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:03,240
Speaker 1: maternal death in the postpartum period rate. When Alison Felix

436
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,080
Speaker 1: decided in two thousand eighteen that she wanted to be

437
00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 1: a professional athlete and a mother, she was in the

438
00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:13,439
Speaker 1: midst of contract negotiations with her long time sponsor Nike.

439
00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:17,040
Speaker 1: This time around, she wanted to ensure that she was

440
00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:23,360
Speaker 1: protected during and after pregnancy. The way athletic contracts are

441
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,199
Speaker 1: structured as a lot of it is performance based, and

442
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,000
Speaker 1: so you need to perform to a certain level or

443
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,320
Speaker 1: you will have a reduction in your salary. Obviously, when

444
00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:34,240
Speaker 1: you have a baby, you need a bit of time

445
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 1: to get back to talk performance um and at at

446
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,240
Speaker 1: the time when I was negotiating, they were unwilling to

447
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:45,080
Speaker 1: grant that time. UM and other athletes had experience also

448
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 1: when they became pregnant that their contracts were actually paused,

449
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,880
Speaker 1: meaning that they were not receiving any pay um at all,

450
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,080
Speaker 1: and their likeness was still being used. They were still

451
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:59,200
Speaker 1: required to make appearances, they were still training with the

452
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,840
Speaker 1: intention of coming back. It's an issue that I had

453
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:07,680
Speaker 1: seen repeatedly throughout my career UM and the culture was

454
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,200
Speaker 1: really silent surrounding it, you know, it was just something

455
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,520
Speaker 1: that women would go through, and I got to the

456
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,040
Speaker 1: point where I felt like I had to speak on it.

457
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 1: I had to share my experience because things I felt

458
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 1: like things would not change if I didn't. Alison asked

459
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,880
Speaker 1: Nike to guarantee in her contract that she wouldn't be

460
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,120
Speaker 1: punished if she didn't perform at her best in the

461
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 1: months before and after childbirth, Nike declined. In May of

462
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen, Allison broke ties with Nike and wrote

463
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,640
Speaker 1: a powerful op ed in The New York Times detailing

464
00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:48,440
Speaker 1: her experience. By the end of the month, Nike announced

465
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:52,600
Speaker 1: it would end financial penalties for pregnant athletes. By July,

466
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: Allison signed with Athleta, an athletic wear company owned by

467
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 1: Gap that wanted Allison explicitly for her outspoken advocacy. Are

468
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 1: you proud of yourself for speaking up? I know that

469
00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:09,720
Speaker 1: you have talked about your upbringing. You were raised in

470
00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 1: a very Christian family. UM, probably taught to be respectful,

471
00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 1: to respect authority, to not be a troublemaker, etcetera, etcetera.

472
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,640
Speaker 1: So did it kind of go against your brain Allison,

473
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 1: to say, Hey, this isn't right, I'm speaking out. It

474
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 1: was completely against when against the grain. It was, UM,

475
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 1: so far out of my comfort zone. UM. Not only

476
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,600
Speaker 1: you know, am I more of a private person, but

477
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,560
Speaker 1: everything you just mentioned was completely true for me, and

478
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:43,000
Speaker 1: so it just felt very scary. But after I did

479
00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:47,840
Speaker 1: speak out, the encouragement from so many people, UM really

480
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,480
Speaker 1: reassured me. And more than anything, it was my daughter.

481
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:52,320
Speaker 1: You know, she was the one who helped me find

482
00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,000
Speaker 1: my voice, and it really when I thought about her

483
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,920
Speaker 1: life and her growing up and the things that I

484
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 1: didn't want her to have to you know, fight for UM.

485
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,520
Speaker 1: That definitely just gave me the booth that I needed.

486
00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:09,719
Speaker 1: When we return messages of empowerment for today's pregnant moms

487
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 1: and their families. That's right after this. A lot of

488
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,960
Speaker 1: what we face right now with the coronavirus pandemic is scary,

489
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 1: but it makes some maternal health crisis and the inequities

490
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:33,720
Speaker 1: around giving birth in this country more urgent than ever.

491
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,200
Speaker 1: It's important to share the stories we've heard so that

492
00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,760
Speaker 1: we can honor those who have been affected and possibly

493
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:44,200
Speaker 1: save others from the same fate. So here are some

494
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:48,680
Speaker 1: of the lessons from those who have experienced the unimaginable. First,

495
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 1: Alison Felix, no matter who you are, educate yourself. You know,

496
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 1: be fully prepared, have a birth plan, um, but don't

497
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,440
Speaker 1: be married to it. For me, that was a big issue.

498
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:06,800
Speaker 1: So just understand that issues may arise and um, you know,

499
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 1: be willing to um go with the flow. But but

500
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,680
Speaker 1: educate yourself and be prepared and listen to your body. Right.

501
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 1: I mean, I think you even probably discounted the swelling

502
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,880
Speaker 1: you experienced. Had you known you were at high risk,

503
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 1: I think you would have said, oh, I need to

504
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,920
Speaker 1: call my doctor right away about this. Right, definitely, definitely, Um,

505
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:28,240
Speaker 1: I would have gone right and immediately had I known

506
00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:30,600
Speaker 1: what to look for, and like you said, listen to

507
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 1: your body and if anything doesn't feel right, make sure

508
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:38,040
Speaker 1: you're hurt, and don't stop. Be persistent. I wish that

509
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,840
Speaker 1: I had understood walking into the hospital that day, that

510
00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,480
Speaker 1: this was even a potential outcome from my wife. Again,

511
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,720
Speaker 1: Charles Johnson, this never even crossed our minds. We had

512
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:56,800
Speaker 1: no clue, and we consider ourselves progressive informed people that

513
00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:04,080
Speaker 1: women were dying, you know, almost twice a day from

514
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,200
Speaker 1: childbirth in this country. I wish that I had known.

515
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:11,160
Speaker 1: Reporter Nina Martin says, there's power in that knowledge. I

516
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,120
Speaker 1: think it's really important for people to know the worst

517
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: case scenario possible, because if you don't, then you will

518
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:26,360
Speaker 1: not trust yourself, your advocates will not continue to push

519
00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,000
Speaker 1: in the way that they need. To believe what you're

520
00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: feeling in your own body and and then make somebody

521
00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,840
Speaker 1: listen to you if possible, or to help get your

522
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:40,640
Speaker 1: the help of your advocates, to make them be listened

523
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 1: and don't give up if possible, because it really could

524
00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: be the difference between life and death. Tragically, there's only

525
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 1: so much a mother and her family can do. As

526
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,440
Speaker 1: we've learned, sometimes all the knowledge and the support in

527
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:04,680
Speaker 1: the world simply isn't enough. That's the heartbreaking thing about

528
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:08,719
Speaker 1: Charles Johnson's story is that he pushed, and Kia pushed

529
00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:11,640
Speaker 1: and it wasn't enough. But you know what, if maybe

530
00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:14,279
Speaker 1: Kira were still alive and she were giving birth, now

531
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 1: people would listen to her right because they would know

532
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:24,080
Speaker 1: that that this happens. And you know, it's that's the

533
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,120
Speaker 1: heartbreak of it, um but it's also what he's been

534
00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 1: able to accomplish in what the work that he's done.

535
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:34,960
Speaker 1: In the years since Cura's death, Charles Johnson started a

536
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:40,960
Speaker 1: nonprofit dedicated to maternal mortality advocacy for Cure four Moms.

537
00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:44,799
Speaker 1: It's an organization that I found it too honor Cure

538
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,080
Speaker 1: as well as the tens of thousands of women that

539
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,960
Speaker 1: we have lost due to this maternal mortality crisis, and

540
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,680
Speaker 1: so I truly believe that although there's nothing I can

541
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,319
Speaker 1: do to bring Cure back the highest honor, that I

542
00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:59,319
Speaker 1: can pay her to do everything that I can to

543
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 1: send other mother's home with their precious babies for care

544
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:07,680
Speaker 1: of four moms also helps provide support to families left behind,

545
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:13,160
Speaker 1: providing babies, supplies, child care services, legal support, and even

546
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:17,439
Speaker 1: grief counseling, because Charles and his young boys know all

547
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:26,399
Speaker 1: too well what that's like. As they get older, they're understanding. Uh,

548
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:31,720
Speaker 1: it grows and they ask questions, and I do my best.

549
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,480
Speaker 1: I made a decision very early on that I would

550
00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:37,319
Speaker 1: do my best to celebrate here and everything that we do.

551
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,800
Speaker 1: If you come into our home, there are huge pictures

552
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:44,600
Speaker 1: of her everywhere. Uh. We deal with Mommy's memory head on.

553
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:48,239
Speaker 1: We tell stories. When Prince comes on the radio, we

554
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,200
Speaker 1: turn it up the full brast and we say that,

555
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:52,400
Speaker 1: you know, Mommy loved this song. When we go places,

556
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:54,840
Speaker 1: we talked about Mommy took you here. When we watch

557
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:57,520
Speaker 1: Race Car Drive and we talked about how much Mommy

558
00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:04,480
Speaker 1: loved to race cars. But it doesn't matter, because it's

559
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:08,840
Speaker 1: still this immense void, and it still doesn't prevent Charles

560
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:10,720
Speaker 1: from waking up in the middle of the night, just crying,

561
00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:13,720
Speaker 1: just saying that he wants his mommy. It doesn't prevent

562
00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:17,200
Speaker 1: Langston asking the question, well, why can't mommy come to

563
00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:22,200
Speaker 1: my school? And so I do my best to explain that, well,

564
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:26,279
Speaker 1: mommy is in heaven and you know she's doing important work.

565
00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:28,520
Speaker 1: But there's nothing that can prepare you for what it's like.

566
00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:32,000
Speaker 1: When you tell a two year old dad mommy is

567
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:33,840
Speaker 1: in heaven and he says to you, well, Daddy, I

568
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:36,279
Speaker 1: want to go to heaven, all right. That just rips

569
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:41,480
Speaker 1: your heart right out of your chest. And at the

570
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:43,840
Speaker 1: end of the day, if I can prevent one other

571
00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,960
Speaker 1: father of having the conversation with their children that I

572
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:48,640
Speaker 1: have to have with mine, then it's all worth it.

573
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:54,759
Speaker 1: If you'd like to support families like the Johnson's, you

574
00:36:54,800 --> 00:37:01,840
Speaker 1: can visit for Kira for moms dot com. We started

575
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:05,360
Speaker 1: reporting this story long before COVID nineteen infected hundreds of

576
00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:09,920
Speaker 1: thousands of people across the country, not to mention millions globally.

577
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 1: It's a public health crisis of historic scale and one

578
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:18,360
Speaker 1: that frankly, this country was not prepared for what the

579
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:22,399
Speaker 1: coronavirus pandemic will mean for the maternal health crisis. We

580
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,440
Speaker 1: may not know for a very long time, but the

581
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:28,600
Speaker 1: fact is right now, tens of thousands of women are

582
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:34,200
Speaker 1: giving birth in unprecedented circumstances, sometimes alone and often without

583
00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:37,480
Speaker 1: the support networks and in person care they need to

584
00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:43,480
Speaker 1: stay healthy before, during, and after birth. Meanwhile, COVID nineteen

585
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:49,400
Speaker 1: is only underscoring already existing racial disparities that put black

586
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:54,520
Speaker 1: and underserved Americans at greater risk. While it's terrifying to

587
00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:57,319
Speaker 1: think of the damage this pandemic could do to the

588
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:01,719
Speaker 1: maternal mortality crisis, there are still so many people, healthcare

589
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:06,480
Speaker 1: professionals and advocates who are working tirelessly on behalf of

590
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,320
Speaker 1: pregnant women. To that in We've compiled a resource this

591
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:15,120
Speaker 1: section around the maternal mortality crisis, including people, information and

592
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:18,799
Speaker 1: organizations mentioned in these episodes. You can find that in

593
00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:21,640
Speaker 1: my morning newsletter wake Up Call, and I'll link to

594
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:24,680
Speaker 1: it on my social media channels. If you'd like to

595
00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:27,600
Speaker 1: get Wake Up Call every morning in your inbox, you

596
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:31,840
Speaker 1: can subscribe at Katie Currek dot com to share this

597
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:35,000
Speaker 1: important series or to subscribe to Next Question. Find us

598
00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:38,080
Speaker 1: on an Apple podcast, the I Heart radio app, or

599
00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:42,000
Speaker 1: wherever you listen until next time and my Next Question.

600
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:50,360
Speaker 1: I'm Katie Couric. Next Question with Katie Kurik is the

601
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,600
Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio and Katie Currek Media. The

602
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:57,040
Speaker 1: executive producers are Katie Kurik, Courtney Litz, and Tyler Klang.

603
00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:01,080
Speaker 1: The supervising producer is Lauren Hanson. Our show producer is

604
00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:06,120
Speaker 1: Bethan Macaluso. The associate producers are Emily Pinto and Derek Clements.

605
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:11,400
Speaker 1: Editing by Derrek Clements, Dylan Fagin and Lowell Berlante, Mixing

606
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:16,120
Speaker 1: by Dylan Fagan. Our researcher is Gabriel Loser. For more

607
00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,239
Speaker 1: information on today's episode, go to Katie Curik dot com

608
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,360
Speaker 1: and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at Katie Currik.

609
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,480
Speaker 1: For more podcasts for My Heart Radio, visit the I

610
00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:32,600
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to

611
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:33,480
Speaker 1: your favorite shows,