Evonnia Woods is the Senior Outreach Producer for Reproaction, an advocacy organization focusing on reproductive justice.In Missouri, Black women experience a higher rate of severe maternal morbidities – things that impact the quality of life – than white women, according to the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services.She spoke about how barriers – like a lack of comprehensive sexual education and a limited knowledge of one’s body can lead to unintentional pregnancies and sometimes poorer outcomes for moms and babies.

Evonnia Woods is the Senior Outreach Producer for Reproaction, an advocacy organization focusing on reproductive justice.According to the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, Black women are four times more likely to die within one year of pregnancy than white women in Missouri.She spoke about the way that intersectional issues – like transportation, poverty and racism – can contribute to Black maternal and infant mortality.

Ashley Curtis is the lab director and principal investigator at the Cognition, Aging, Sleep, and Health Lab, or CASH Lab, at the University of Missouri. She studies the relationship between sleep conditions and cognition.She spoke about the misconceptions about insomnia and about some of the ways that sleep hygiene practices could improve everyone’s sleep health.

April Mickens Jolly is the Vice President of Health Equity & Culture at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri – and a Black mother.According to the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, Black women in Missouri are 4 times more likely to die within a year of pregnancy than white women.

Sara Humm is the public information specialist for Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services.She spoke about the continued presence of COVID-19 throughout Missouri, and about – some of the ways – people can do their best to keep their family, friends, and community safe during the holiday season.

Mary Beth Miller is the lab director and principal investigator for the Health Intervention and Treatment Research Lab, or HIT Lab where she studies the relationship between alcohol and sleep.She spoke about how drinking alcohol can impact the quality of sleep people get each night and how it may even be the reason you are waking up.

Lisa and Gary Kremer spoke with KBIA’s Missouri on Mic team at the Missouri State Fair back in August. They reflected on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way they live their lives, and Lisa reflected on losing her mother in the winter of 2020 to the disease.

Dr. Olugbemisola Obi is the medical director for the NICU, or neonatal intensive care unit, at MU Health Care in Columbia.She says the hospital has seen some mothers lately who are very sick from COVID-19 – so sick in fact that their babies are delivered pre-term. She spoke about the impact that having a premature baby in the NICU – while also being COVID-19 positive – can impact a family.

Lydia Olmstead and Dr. Jacque Sample work together on the Columbia Disabilities Commission. Lydia is a person who happens to be deaf/blind, and Dr. Sample has a son with a disability.They spoke about Columbia’s sidewalks and about improvements that would make the community more inclusive – and perhaps even more environmentally friendly.

Matthew Huffman is the Public Affairs Director for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, and Joan Masters is the Senior Coordinator of Partners in Prevention. They spoke about drug-facilitated sexual assaults and how those have changed during the last few decades – from perpetration using illegal substances like rohypnol, or roofies, to legally obtainable drugs and even – just alcohol