What We're Reading
By Joy Burkhard, MBA
Founder and Executive Director, 2020 Mom
Last month, some of the articles that caught my attention included:
Using Neuroscience as a way to advance social justice,
The surprise benefits of pandemic pregnancy, and
How “ghost” insurance networks prevent Americans from getting the mental health care they need.
Leave a comment below if any of these articles strike a chord with you.
CDC: 2020 Maternal Deaths Surged Among Black Women
— Pregnancy-related death rates continued to trend upward.
73 Doctors and None Available: How Ghost Networks Hamper Mental Health Care
The term, commonly used by professionals, describes a panel of medical providers who for various reasons aren’t providing care.
Connecting Neuroscience Researchers as a Way to Advance Social Justice
Mental illnesses are more common in people of African ancestry, which is one reason why neuroscience needs more African American researchers.
This Global Public Health Challenge [Domestic Violence] Affects One In Four Women. Where's The Outrage Or The Plan?
![This Global Public Health Challenge [Domestic Violence] Affects One In Four Women. Where's The Outrage Or The Plan?](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56d5ca187da24ffed7378b40/d51949c2-e959-4327-b9e8-54abe77faf21/This-global-public-health-challenge.jpg)
A new study in The Lancet revealed that more than a quarter (27%) of women around the world, aged 15-49, have experienced domestic violence from a male intimate partner at least once in their lifetime. That's approximately one in four women.
And the abuse starts young: 24% of 15- to 19-year-olds had experienced violence.
Moms With Kids Under 5 Are Not Ok Right Now
After Pfizer pulled their FDA request for the COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5, moms of young kids continue to struggle. The problem? No one seems to care.
Computer-Assisted CBT Effective for Combating Depression in Primary Care
— Add-on has "potential for reducing barriers," researchers say.
Mental Health Crisis Demands Better Coverage, Worker Pay, Experts Tell House
— Advocates argue for workforce incentives, peer involvement, and closing Medicare coverage gaps.
Pandemic Pregnancy: Increased Anxiety, Distress, But Also a Few Surprise Benefits
“Moms said they felt like no matter what they did, it was wrong.” For example, women said they experienced decreased lactation support, which led to increased stress and decreased milk supply in some.
Shuman said the pandemic highlighted existing shortcomings in the United States’ cookie-cutter approach to maternal care.
Stop Blaming the Uncooperative Mother
The following is an excerpt from the first edition of Family Integrity & Justice Quarterly, an academic journal on family well-being.
I titled this essay Stop Blaming the “Uncooperative Mother,” because it has become a racial trope used by well-intentioned people who work with families throughout our nation’s child welfare system. "Over nearly 30 years of working in and around the child welfare system, I have heard variations on this theme: the angry mother; the hostile mother; the disrespectful mother; the antagonistic mother; the aggressive mother; the argumentative mother; and many other negative labels that drive how systems engage."
Parental Leave: The Time for Change Was Yesterday
According to the Bureau of Labor, 1 in 4 women return to work just 2 weeks after giving birth, but new research shows that extending paid maternity leave can lead to better health outcomes for both mothers and babies.
Changes in Sleep and Biological Rhythms from Late Pregnancy to Postpartum Linked to Depression and Anxiety
The three-month period before and after giving birth is a vulnerable time for women’s mental health.
Researchers recruited 100 women, 73 of whom they followed from the start of the third trimester to three months postpartum. They analyzed subjective and objective measures of sleep, biological rhythms, melatonin levels, and light exposure using a variety of tools, including questionnaires, actigraphs (wearable sleep monitors), laboratory assays, and other methods.
Adapting and Testing a Brief Intervention to Reduce Maternal Anxiety During Pregnancy (Acorn Intervention)
Anxiety during pregnancy is a key mental health problem -The ACORN intervention consisted of 3 2-h group sessions, led by a midwife and psychological therapist, for pregnant individuals and their partners. The intervention included psychoeducation about anxiety, strategies for problem-solving and tolerating uncertainty during pregnancy, including communicating about these with others, and mindfulness exercises. There is significant potential for large-scale public health benefit.
Study Connects Net Worth and Blood Pressure in African American Women
Lower socioeconomic status often predicts poorer health, with less education and income strongly tied to cardiovascular disease. A small new study takes a different tack to capture financial stability, asking young and middle-aged African American women about their net worth and measuring their blood pressure.
Screening for Intimate Partner Violence During Pregnancy: A Test Accuracy Study European Journal of Public Health
Intimate partner violence against women is a serious health problem that affects pregnancy more frequently than other obstetric complications usually evaluated in antenatal visits. Researchers aimed to estimate the accuracy of the Women Abuse Screening Tool-Short and the Abuse Assessment Screen for the detection of IPV during and before pregnancy. The WAST-Short was found to be useful in screening [for] IPV during pregnancy in antenatal visits.
Here's How Ob/Gyns Can Create Gender-Affirming Environments — Focusing On Social and Emotional Needs Goes a Long Way, Experts Say
Pregnancy care and childbirth have long been considered "women's healthcare." But ob/gyns also care for many gender-diverse individuals who have babies – and they can take simple steps to affirm the identities of those patients in their practice.
How An Ob-Gyn Didn't Realize She Was Struggling With Postpartum Depression
Dr. Jessica Vernon completed four years of medical school and residency. How did she miss the signs?
Mental Health Emergencies Rise with Extreme Heat, Study Says
When we worry about climate change worsening health, we shouldn’t forget mental health. A new study in JAMA Psychiatry makes that point after tracking surges in mental health visits to hospital emergency departments when temperatures spike. Combing through insurance claims data for nearly 3.5 million ED visits, the researchers found an association between extreme heat waves and worsening symptoms from mood or anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, schizophrenia, and suicide risk.
New Study IDs Moms at Highest Risk for Postpartum Depression - UVA Health Newsroom
The risk for postpartum depression is highest among first-time moms, moms younger than 25 years old and moms of twins, according to a survey.
Socioeconomic Factors May Affect Telemedicine Uptake
In-person health care appointments for newly diagnosed cancer patients were rapidly replaced by telemedicine in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but uptake was uneven, which may have delayed care for some, according to a JAMA Oncology research letter. Patients in the highest socioeconomic quartile were 31% more likely than those in the lowest quartile to have a telemedicine appointment within 30 days of diagnosis, and Ronald Chen, chair of the department of radiation oncology at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, says more research is needed to determine how telemedicine utilization affected cancer care and outcomes.
Mental Health Disorders Tied to Subsequent Dementia
— Mental disorders more strongly linked with dementia than chronic physical diseases.