In the News
Medical researchers and providers consider a woman's postpartum period to be up to 12 months after the delivery of baby, but too often, health insurance doesn't see it the same way. Nearly half of the births in the United States are covered by Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and while the babies who are born during these births are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP for a year, their mothers often lose their coverage 60 days after delivering their child.
My assignment for this story was originally to highlight people who have dedicated themselves to combating the black maternal mortality crisis. But the more I spoke to those very people, the more I saw one major thread: Individuals doing this life-saving work are much more interested in shining a spotlight on the organizations they've founded and partnered with rather than just talking about themselves.
Tucked somewhere in the cluttered corner of a stranger's iPhone is evidence of my joy. It's a 30-second video of me Milly Rocking, two-stepping in three-inch heels and a black spandex dress chosen specifically for this moment.
"I've gotta get this," I heard the woman next to me whisper as she turned her phone my way and I kept on dancing like nobody was watching. At the time, I was five months pregnant and having a time, child.
In February 2017, U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood's close friend, Dr. Shalon Irving, died three weeks after giving birth to a baby girl. Irving, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and an epidemiologist, was just 36 years old.
