Tagged With "Black women's health"
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Public support for asking about traumatic childhood experiences in general practice, suggests initial study [Public Health Wales]
Almost nine out of 10 patients (87 per cent) who provided feedback following a new pilot initiative said a GP surgery is a suitable place to be asked about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Under the pilot initiative, 85 per cent of patients also said it was acceptable to provide information about ACEs to a health practitioner, and four out of five (81 per cent) said it was important for practitioners to understand this information. Just under a third (30 per cent) of general practice...
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Putting it together - Mental Health Consequences and ACEs - Presentation on 1/13/16 in Oakland!
Just finding out about this opportunity, but what a great chance to hear a presentation focused on mental health and ACEs! Register here for this free event!
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Racism, Not Race, Causes Health Disparities for Black Mothers (nonprofitquarterly.org)
The health disparities that exist for Black mothers in America are well documented. Black women are three to four times more likely to die from childbirth than their White counterparts. Yet, aside from listing “being Black” as a risk factor for maternal death, little has been done to address this alarming statistic. The inaugural Black Maternal Health Week , held from April 11–17, 2018, sought to change this through offering a forum for continued conversation. Importantly, they shed light on...
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Rebecca Pearson: Mental health: depression and anxiety in young mothers is up by 50% in a generation
Back when it first started, 17% of young pregnant women in the Children of the 90s study reported symptoms severe enough to indicate clinical levels of depression. This figure was already worryingly high in the 1990s, but in their daughters’ generation it is even more common: 25% of the second generation of the study – women under the age of 24 who are becoming pregnant now – are reporting signs of depression and anxiety. Children of the 90s started following the mental and physical health...
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Recent return from deployment tied to preterm births for military women [Reuters Health News]
(Reuters Health) - Military women who give birth within six months of returning from deployment are twice as likely to have premature babies compared to other soldiers, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on 12,877 births to U.S. soldiers from 2011 to 2014 and found that, overall, 6.1 percent of these deliveries were premature. But for mothers who had returned from deployment within the past six months, 11.7 percent of deliveries were premature, versus just 5.9 percent of births...
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Redesigning Maternal Care: OB-GYNs Are Urged to See New Mothers Sooner And More Often [npr.org]
This story was co-published with ProPublica . Doctors would see new mothers sooner and more frequently, and insurers would cover the increased visits, under sweeping new recommendations from the organization that sets standards of care for obstetrician-gynecologists in the U.S. The 11-page "committee opinion" on " Optimizing Postpartum Care ," released Monday by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists , represents a fundamental re-imagining of how providers, insurers and...
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Reducing Maternal Mortality [nytimes.com]
Women in the United States face a far greater risk of dying from childbirth complications than in many other wealthy countries. Now the federal government has taken a step toward addressing the problem with the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act , signed in December, which will provide federal grants to states to investigate the deaths of women who die within a year of being pregnant. A report released by the Commonwealth Fund in December that looked at 11 high-income countries found that...
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Release of 2018 In-Hospital Breastfeeding Data [cdph.ca.gov]
By California Department of Public Health, Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, October 2, 2019 The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Center for Family Health is pleased to announce that the 2018 in-hospital breastfeeding data have been posted to the CDPH In-Hospital Breastfeeding Initiation Data website . We encourage all hospitals to utilize these data to integrate Quality Improvement (QI) efforts within the perinatal unit to ensure policies and practices are supportive of...
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Reminder: Live Chat with Donna Jackson Nakazawa
"It's really not survival of the fittest - it's survival of the nurtured." Donna Jackson Nakazawa Date: Tuesday, November 14th, 2017 Time: 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST Where: Here / Chats ( featured chat ) Hosted by: @Jane Stevens Topics to be Covered: Parenting with ACEs. What parents need to know. Affordable self-care for stressed and busy parents. Healing from ACEs & family wellness. How to Attend Online Chats: M embers of ACEs Connection : Go to Chats (top of page). Find...
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[Repost] Trauma-informed Care: It Takes More Than a Clipboard and a Questionnaire
California is about to launch an ambitious campaign to train tens of thousands of Medi-Cal providers to screen children and adults up to age 65 for trauma, starting on January 1, 2020. It is well-established that the early identification of trauma and providing the appropriate treatment are critical tools for reducing long-term health care costs for both children and adults. Research has shown that individuals who experienced a high number of traumatic childhood events are likely to die...
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Research roundup: Prospective ACE study and commentary about it; ways of asking about trauma; research on the power of internal resilience in juvenile offenders and a companion essay
Association of Childhood Trauma Exposure With Adult Psychiatric Disorders and Functional Outcomes JAMA Open Prospective Study Delves Deeper Into Mental Health Effects of Childhood Trauma Psychiatry From Treatment to Healing: Inquiry and Response to Recent and Past Trauma in Adult Health Care Women's Health Issues Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychological Distress in Juvenile Offenders: The Protective Influence of Resilience and Youth Assets Journal of Adolescent Health Adverse...
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Researchers study the economics of implementing maternal health programs through self-help groups [Research Matters]
For a long time, self-help groups comprising of 10-20 individuals from the same village, mostly women, have been established in many parts of India to address financial needs, livelihood and productivity. In recent years, efforts like Maharashtra’s Mahila Aarogya Samiti , and Kerala’s Kudumbashree initiative have tried to engage such informal groups to increase access to health services and awareness about maternal health schemes like the Janani Suraksha Yojana . Although studies have shown...
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RSVP now for 2020 MOM Annual Forum!
Clinical Keynote: Pilyoung Kim, Ph.D. Motherhood and the Brain Pilyoung Kim, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the department of psychology and the Director of Family and Child Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Denver . She and her team investigate the roles of prenatal and postnatal exposure to poverty and stress in (1) neural adaptation to parenthood in new mothers and (2) brain development in infants and young children. Her primary research method is pediatric neuroimaging...
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Sacramento Report: Bringing Postpartum Depression Out of the Shadows
Those federal funds will become available to states through the Bringing Postpartum Depression Out of the Shadows Act , passed in 2016 by Congress. The money can be used for screening, assessing and treating maternal mental health disorders, but the state Department of Public Health needs to apply. AB 1893 would require them to do so. About one in nine women nationwide experience symptoms of postpartum depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The California...
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Save the Date: 2020 Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Conference
Mark your calendars! Perinatal Services BC will be hosting the biennial Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Conference in conjunction with UBC Interprofessional Continuing Education. Innovation and equity: The foundation to quality perinatal care in 2020 This conference is hosted by Perinatal Services BC, a part of the Provincial Health Services Authority. It is an exciting meeting of the minds; an opportunity for health care professionals interested in the care of pregnant and postpartum...
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Senate Resolution re Diaper Banks and National Diaper Network
May 14, 2019: Resolution Recognizes The Importance Of Diaper Banks And Providing Diapers To Families In Need Senate Resolution re Diapers RESOLUTION Expressing the gratitude of the Senate for the people who operate or support diaper banks and diaper distribution programs in their local communities. Whereas the lack of a sufficient clean diaper supply can adversely affect the physical, mental, and economic wellbeing of infants, toddlers, and their families; Whereas diapers are a material...
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Senator Harris to Reintroduce Maternal CARE Act [CWA E Newsletter]
Sen. Kamala Harris has announced a proposal to address the worsening maternal mortality crisis in the U.S., and deep racial disparities in care across the country. Harris' proposal highlights the fact that African American women are three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications compared to their white counterparts - and not just among poor women, according to the CDC . Harris proposes to create a new $25 million program aimed at fighting racial bias in maternal care by...
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Shasta Health Center Screening Parents for ACEs
Shasta Community Health Center The trust that many families feel for their child's doctor makes the primary care setting an essential place to screen for ACEs and begin the conversation with caregivers about potential risks to their child's health and well-being. Their experience has shown that when risk is identified and assessed early on, there is a better chance of offering interventions that prevent long-term health and behavioral problems. Screening for ACEs is also an opportunity to...
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Should you bring your unborn to work?
Moms are maxed out. Pregnant moms are maxed out, especially for many families who survived the economic recession because many women hold more recession proof jobs. But stress, especially for the pregnant woman isn't such a great thing for the unborn,...
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Six Local Women Launch First Health Care Co-op Owned by Immigrants [Madison 365]
By L. Malik Anderson, June 6, 2019, Madison 365 Six women sought out to serve their community as Promotores de Salud (Community Health Workers) but ended up founding Roots4Change / Raíces Para El Cambio, the first cooperative of its kind led by Latina and indigenous women. “All of them were interested in health. All of them were interested in making a difference in their lives first and the lives of their family and the lives in the community,” Mariela Quesada Centeno, the inaugural Centro...
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So how do you start to think and talk about ACEs and Maternal Mental Health?
Give them an info graphic to show the connection between toxic stress and health outcomes for moms and babies? Check out the attached 3 handouts! Have some talking points ready to get the conversation started with prenatal care staff? ...
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Some 350 Florida Leaders Expected to Attend Think Tank with Dr. Vincent Felitti, Co-Principal Investigator of the ACE Study; Expert on ACEs Science
Leaders from across the Sunshine State will take part in a “Think Tank” in Naples, FL, on Monday, August 6, to help create a more trauma-informed Florida. The estimated 350 attendees will include policy makers and community teams made up of school superintendents, law enforcement officers, judges, hospital administrators, mayors, PTA presidents, child welfare experts, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, philanthropists, university researchers, state agency heads, and...
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Standing Strong – The knowledge, skills and peer support parents need to lead (www.risemagazine.org)
Cissy's note: I admire the work of this parent-led and parent-focused organization. I read everything they post. For those not familiar with what they do, this is a recent interview with three staffers and gives a really good look at what and how they work to support families and make systems change. Here's an excerpt. The full piece is here. To read more of this piece recently published in Rise Magazine, go here.
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State Policy Solutions: Helping Children by Addressing Maternal Depression
Around 12 percent of mothers in the U.S. experience depression, and that number is even higher for minorities and those that live in poverty. Beyond affecting their own health, maternal depression can greatly impact mothers' capacity to care for their children. Members of PolicyLab’s Intergenerational Family Services portfolio wrote a brief on how states can address maternal depression through actionable, evidence-based policy solutions. We hope this can be helpful in your work as well. You...
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States weigh bans on shackling jailed moms during childbirth [AP News]
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Michelle Aldana gave birth to her first child chained to a hospital bed. Then serving time at the Utah state prison on a drug charge, she says she labored through the difficult 2001 birth for nearly 30 hours, her ankles bleeding as the shackles on both her legs and one arm dug in. “I felt like a farm animal,” she says. The practice of keeping inmates shackled during childbirth was once common around the United States, but that’s gradually been changing after women began...
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Strategies to Improve Maternal Mental Health in California [California Budget Bites]
(Posted May 1, 2019) Today marks World Maternal Mental Health Day and the start of Mental Health Awareness Month . Maternal mental health (MMH) is vital to the health and well-being of children and families. When mothers feel emotionally healthy and well supported, they are better able to develop strong bonds with their children, which promote children’s physical, mental, and emotional development. Conversely, when mothers experience mental health conditions during pregnancy or after giving...
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Stress-induced perinatal and transgenerational epigenetic programming of brain development and mental health
Abstract Research efforts during the past decades have provided intriguing evidence suggesting that stressful experiences during pregnancy exert long-term consequences on the future mental wellbeing of both the mother and her baby. Recent human...
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Suffering in Silence Mood Disorders Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women of Color
Pregnancy and childbirth can bring joy and fulfillment to a woman's life. They can also bring anxiety, depression, and stress. If left untreated, postpartum depression and other mood disorders can grow severe and even fatal for both the mother and her child. The American Psychological Association estimates that 1 in 7 women experience postpartum depression, yet the true statistic is unknown, as most women do not recognize the symptoms associated with the condition. 1 According to the World...
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Symptoms of Depression During and After Pregnancy
In order to have the best chance of improving outcomes for the mother and infant, routine screening and treatment for depression should begin early in pregnancy, a time when women have increased contact with the health care system.
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The Developing Brain & Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Thanks to an explosion in scientific research now possible with imaging technologies, such as fMRI and SPECT, experts can actually see how the brain develops. This helps explain why exposure to adverse childhood experiences can so deeply influence and change a child's brain and thus their physical and emotional health and quality of life across their lifetime. The above time-lapse study was conducted over 10 years. The darker colors represent brain maturity (brain development). I have added...
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The Hello It’s Me Project comes to Pittsfield: Dr. Claudia Gold at the helm of initiative to create healthy bonds between parents and infants (www./theberkshireedge.com)
Cissy's note: I am a huge fan of the way @Claudia Gold works with those of us Parenting with ACEs . The first time I read her writing I relaxed. She was speaking with and for parents not about or at us. Unfortunately, her approach is rare. Fortunately, she just launched a new project she's been dreaming of for years. I love the way she supports all families and how she centers the role of all parents in the lives of all children - especially those - not all except those...
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The importance of maternal well-being in relation to child unintentional injury
With National Mental Health Awareness Month coming up in May, I thought I would share an article that Grace Harris shared with me. With the hopes to better serve the children and families across both human services and mental health services this article helps bring awareness to the importance of maternal well-being. Children of depressed mothers at risk for unintentional injuries | Reuters "Children under age 5 are more likely to accidentally get injured if their mothers are having a...
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The Maternal Mortality Rate In The US Is High. Colorado Is Spending To Try To Stop It [Colorado Public Radio]
By Natalia V. Navarro, CPR, June 18, 2019 Nicole Pember has two healthy daughters but during both pregnancies, she could have died. Not only did she have preeclampsia twice, but she also had HELLP syndrome and severe postpartum depression “We just kind of have this expectation also that women just suffer for the good of everyone and it makes it really easy to miss very serious problems,” Pember said. “Things like Preeclampsia, the symptoms are very similar to just kind of like being pregnant...
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The pandemic may be intensifying postpartum depression. But there are resources to help. (The Lily)
By Juli Fraga, May 8, 2020, The Lily. On March 18 — a day before California became the first state to issue a stay-at-home order — Courtney Pladsen, 34, a nurse practitioner who lives in Portland, Me., gave birth to her first child. Like many of the hundreds of thousands of U.S. women who have given birth during the coronavirus pandemic, Pladsen’s life was turned upside down. In preparation for parenthood, Pladsen and her husband had lined up support: a lactation consultant to help with...
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The prevalence and clinical correlates of adverse childhood experiences in a cross-sectional study of primary care patients with cardiometabolic disease or risk factors (BMC)
From the article: To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the incidence and clinical correlates of ACEs in primary care patients who already have cardiometabolic disease or are at elevated risk based on conventional risk factors. Open Access LINK to article Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with risk of poor adult health, including cardiometabolic diseases. Little is known about the correlates of ACEs for adults who have already developed...
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The Relentless School Nurse: The Text Message No Parent Wants to Get - An Active Shooter is at School
Many blog readers know that my niece Carly is a survivor of the Parkland shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. You may know that my father also survived a mass murder, and like Carly, hid in a closet until the police arrived. Almost 70 years separated the two tragedies. Our guest blogger this week is my sister Merri, Carly's mom. Merri shares her first-hand account of what happened the afternoon of February 14, 2018, when Carly sent this text, “Mom don’t freak out but we are on...
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The Rise of the Trauma-Informed Mothers
The next generation is less likely to wear predisposed shackles of trauma because as trauma-informed parents we are re-wiring the traumatically stressed DNA that was passed down to us.
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The Trauma of Having a Newborn in the NICU [theatlantic.com]
When Kelli Kelley awoke from her C-section 17 years ago, having delivered her son after just 24 weeks of pregnancy, her husband gave her a Polaroid of their baby. He was tiny, underdeveloped, eyes still fused shut, with translucent skin covered in fine hair, and lying in a sea of medical equipment and lines. To Kelley, he looked like a baby bird. Cut to her first visit to the neonatal intensive-care unit ( nicu ) to meet him: a cacophony of beeping machines, harsh lighting,...
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The Type of Postpartum Depression No One Talks About [Health.com]
Postpartum depression is recognized and understood today more than ever before, thanks to advances in research and public awareness campaigns. While the stigma around the disorder isn’t entirely gone, many new moms who might have once suffered in silence are reaching out for help—and speaking out about their experiences. But women aren't the only group that can be affected by postpartum depression: New dads can struggle with it too. Fathers don’t suffer from depression in the same way, or at...
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The Unexpected Perk Of My Group Pregnancy Care: New Friends [CA Healthline]
I had always imagined going through pregnancy surrounded by family and friends. But when I found out I was pregnant, my husband, Alex, and I had just moved from San Francisco to Chicago. I knew almost no one. I ended up finding a community where I least expected it: at a medical office. CenteringPregnancy is group prenatal care offered by more than 600 practices across the country. Rather than the standard 15-minute individual visits in an exam room, women who are due around the same time...
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'They Took My Kid': Rural Docs Help Moms Fight Addiction [medpagetoday.com]
By Ashley Lyles, MedPage Today, November 19, 2019 Patient: I'd gotten pregnant again and I was using through my whole pregnancy, and I didn't receive prenatal care. He was born and he's fine and everything. The [Department of Social Services] let me bring him home. Then a week after I had him, I relapsed really, really bad. Then, I got really messed up and they took my kid. Reporter: The opioid epidemic has taken a toll in rural areas, especially on pregnant women. Doctors and healthcare...
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This Psychologist Is Changing The Face Of Therapy For Black Women [HUFFPOST]
[DFINNEY PHOTOGRAPHY] J oy Harden Bradford, an Atlanta-based therapist who founded the mental health platform Therapy for Black Girls , is an advocate for black women’s well-being. The founder of the website Therapy for Black Girls is working to empower black women to make their mental health a priority. Slowly but surely, mental health has moved from the sidelines to the center of our national conversation around well-being. But discussing feelings and emotions is still a touchy subject in...
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TIC: News and Notes for November 2019
ACEs, Adversity's Impact Podcast: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris Vital Signs: Estimated proportion of adult health problems attributable to adverse childhood experiences and implications for prevention - 25 states, 2015-2017 Animal study shows how stress and mother's abuse affects infant brain LGBTQ, traumatized homeless youth more vulnerable to being trafficked: Report How do these pediatricians do ACEs screening?Early adopters tell all When family relationships become toxic: The trauma of...
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TIC: News and Notes for the Week of October 21, 2019 [dhs.wisconsin.gov]
ACEs, Adversity's Impact There is only one boat: The myth of normalcy by Dr. Gabor Mate Understanding historical trauma to strengthen community Childhood trauma linked to early, premarital childbirth and poor health for women Early life racial discrimination linked to depression, accelerated aging When mothers are killed by their partners, children often become 'forgotten' victims. It's time they were given a voice Children's language skills may be harmed by social hardship Does racism...
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Toxic Stress: Issue Brief on Family Separation and Child Detention [immigrationinitiative.harvard.edu]
By Jack P. Shonkoff, Immigration Initiative at Harvard, October 2019 Background The separation of children from their parents and their prolonged detention for an indefinite period of time raise profound concerns that transcend partisan politics and demand immediate resolution. Forcibly separating children from their parents is like setting a house on fire. Preventing rapid reunification is like blocking the first responders from doing their job. And subjecting children to prolonged...
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Trauma-Informed Care and a Therapist Saved my Life
Between 55 and 99 percent of women who attend addiction treatment and between 85 and 95 percent of women with a history of mental illness have a history of trauma. Among this trauma , the vast majority happened during childhood. Whether the trauma involves neglect, sexual assault, or dysfunction within the family, the need for trauma-informed care in both addiction treatment and in the mental health field is of great importance. When I found myself at a detox facility 1,300 miles away from...
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Trauma-Informed Care as a Universal Precaution: Beyond the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire [jamanetwork.com]
By Nicole Racine, Teresa Killam, and Sheri Madigan, JAMA Pediatrics, November 4, 2019 Experiences of childhood adversity are common, with more than 50% of adults reporting having experienced at least 1 adversity as children and more than 6% exposed to 4 or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). There is currently a controversial debate in the medical field as to whether the ACEs questionnaire, which asks about abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction before age 18 years, should be...
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Trauma Mama: Little Girl Riding Shotgun in My Psyche
“I love you,” I say to my daughter. “Of course you do,” she says, I’m awesome.” She was twelve. The mother in me smiled. The girl I was shook her head inside and wondered h ow would it have been to feel both loved and lovable while a child? I do not know. I will never know. It does not matter how wonderful my present. It does not matter who I will become. I can’t change the past. The past is a country I never want my daughter to travel near or in. I am an exile, from my past, my child self.
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'Understanding Trauma': Program Shows Doctors the Biases Indigenous Women Experience [cbc.ca]
By Daniela Germano, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, October 1, 2019 An online training program is aiming to educate health-care professionals about biases Indigenous women may experience as highlighted by allegations of recent coerced sterilizations. Dr. Naana Jumah, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and assistant professor at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, said the idea for the program came in 2011 when she was doing her residency.
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UNDOING HARM: plastic surgeons tackle reconstruction for circumcised women [Sarasota Herald Tribune]
She called it her “deepest, darkest secret,” one she had never even shared with her husband. When Saffiatu Sillah was growing up in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, a ritual circumcision left her with scar tissue that caused pain with pain during sex and agony during childbirth. After her second child was born, Sillah, a pharmacist then living in Philadelphia, searched for medical help. To read the full article, written by Pam Belluck and Maddie McGarvey of the NYT, click click HERE