How does race and ethnicity intersect with other identities (including sex, gender identity, etc.) in ways that compound barriers to health care and lead to health disparities?
How does race and ethnicity intersect with other identities (including sex, gender identity, etc.) in ways that compound barriers to health care and lead to health disparities?
Roughly four million women give birth in the United States every year – and most choose to breastfeed (74 percent). After all, the nutritional value of breast milk is well documented. Numerous studies show that breastfeeding protects mothers and children from a range of acute and chronic health conditions. But with two-thirds of today’s working women returning to work within three months of giving birth, the lack of supportive workplace policies and laws is forcing too many nursing mothers to quit breastfeeding early – or never start.
Every year roughly four million women give birth in the United States, and most of them (more than three-quarters) start out breastfeeding. Study after study has affirmed the value of breastfeeding in protecting both mothers and children from a host of acute and chronic diseases and conditions, saving billions in health care costs. Breastfeeding mothers also report feeling more closely bonded with their babies—a factor which may lower the risk of postpartum depression.
Owning your own home has long been a central part of the American Dream. It’s as American as baseball, apple pie and mom. But according to this column in the New York Times, a lot of moms and moms-to-be are getting short shrift.
“Can’t you just use the bathroom?”
Between President Obama issuing a new proposal on health insurance reform on Monday and the White House Health Care Summit Thursday, the beat marches on around this debate in Washington.
You’re pregnant, your first language is Vietnamese, and you’d like to find an obstetrician who speaks your language. You had your first baby by emergency C-section, in another state, but you want to try to deliver the second vaginally, and you’d like to find a doctor who seems to use C-sections sparingly. Or you want very much to breastfeed your baby, and you’d like to deliver at a hospital with lactation consultants available.