As new mom's to be, how we plan on bringing a new baby is something we plan for. For some it's literally drawing up a 'birth plan' on what and how will go on during the day. However, things happen and plans change. For other women, there is no plan at all, it is even a luxury to have a birth plan. This episode touches on the two ways of bringing babies into the world and focuses on the debate concerning caesarean birth and the challenges that women, particularly black women face when preparing, during and after birth.

The episode explores maternal health and the disparities that exists primarily for black women; those that are in the United States and in Sub Saharan Africa. The information share is for informational purposes, always consult a trained and qualified expert related to your own pregnancy. This information is to explore what is out there but also bring about hope and trust in God during the pregnancy period. It is not meant to scare you, but to raise awareness on the realities of maternal health and how to prepare yourself.

References for the articles cited in the podcast. Thank you!

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002494

CDC: U.S Maternal Morbidity (2015)

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_04.pdf

U.S 2018 Births

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_13-508.pdf

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/11/health/c-section-rates-study-parenting-without-borders-intl/index.html

Black maternal health in the USA

https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/health/reports/black-womens-maternal-health.html

WHO Maternal mortality

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/329886/WHO-RHR-19.20-eng.pdf?ua=1

Maternal mortality in Africa

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(19)30036-1/fulltext

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32386-9/fulltext

https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/death-from-caesarean-sections/en/