Despite spending more money per capita on maternal-child health efforts than any country worldwide, the United States (US) is the only high-resource nation with a steadily increasing mortality rate; and notable disparities by race and ethnicity.

The brunt of this burden is bore by Black and Indigenous women—where the risk is 2-3 times higher than their non-Hispanic white counterparts to die from complications of pregnancy and birth. In 2020 alone, the US maternal mortality rate was 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, with 861 deaths attributable to maternal causes such as hemorrhage and cardiovascular conditions.

These statistics paint a grim picture of not only the increased risk faced by persons of color but the condition of our health system. The time to implement equitable solutions is now. Black mothers can’t wait.

We had the honor of discussing these disturbing realities with Jemea Dorsey, the CEO of Center for Black Women's Wellness - nonprofit supporting communities in Atlanta, Georgia. 

We sat down with Dr. Nicole Rankins, MD, OB/GYN physician, and wife and husband, Dr. Kiara Williams, DPT, PT and Mitchel Williams. Wife, Dr. Kiara Williams, detailed her birthing journey and survival of eclampsia. We discussed the importance of having a birth plan and an advocate during the delivery day and postpartum. Mitchel Williams expressed his frustration as an advocate for his wife with the health system that almost put his wife at risk. 

Dr. Nicole Rankins, MD is also available on all social platforms as drnicoleranks. Please find our patient and provider mobile apps on iOS and Android. 

https://inovcares.com/

Every woman deserves high-quality, affordable care. However, every year 500,000 women between ages 15 to 49 die from pregnancy-related complications. Worse still, two-thirds of these deaths are preventable. According to the CDC, pregnancy-related death occurs 3.3 times more often for African American women than white women. Studies have shown that a significant driver of this crisis is implicit bias. Racial disparity in healthcare costs us money, unnecessary suffering, and ultimately, lives lost. Far too often, women’s early symptoms and warning signs are dismissed, leading to unnecessary, costly, and potentially deadly complications that should have been easily preventable. These problems are wide-ranging, affecting far too many patients and costing us money and precious lives. Untreated chronic conditions drastically increase the risks of pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia, premature birth, and even death. As just one example among many, unmanaged diabetes increases the risk for premature birth, congenital disabilities, and even pregnancy loss. It’s the same story for nearly every untreated chronic condition, whether it is diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, or even just premature birth. The costs associated add up quickly. According to a study published by HHS, in 2009 the average medical expenses for a full-term baby’s first-year amount to only $3,325. That figure balloons up to a whopping $190,467 if the baby’s born preterm, before 28 weeks. These costs continue to rise throughout the baby’s early life. Again, just the annual societal, economic burden of pre-term delivery alone was estimated in 2005 to be a whopping 26 billion dollars. And that was back in 2005. Even that is only the monetary cost. The human cost is immeasurable.

Dr. Scott has held several prominent leadership positions in the Baltimore area. As a trained family medicine physician, Dr. Scott has extensive public health experience and has led innovative programs specifically designed to improve health outcomes while saving costs. Most recently, Dr. Scott served as the Medical Director of Population Health and Community Health Programs at Johns Hopkins HealthCare, LLC. In addition to her years of work and volunteer experience, Dr. Scott also reached the rank of Major, Medical Corps after having served for 10 years in the United States Army Reserve.

Building healthy habits and lifestyle you want can be daunting. So today we decided to bring two food experts to educate and inspire us to consider food as medicine by developing a healthy relationship with food. Shaun Chavis is the founder of LVNGbook, and Tambra Raye is founder of WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition Dietetics & Agriculture.

Pre-Episode Questions: 

1. Our conversation today is with two food experts. Shaun and Tambra. Welcome to the show, ladies. 

2. Please share your backgrounds with our listeners? 

3. How does one develop a healthy relationship with food? 

4. How can we build healthy eating habits that transform our lifestyle and help us prevent or manage heart disease? 

5. How do we use food as medicine to help beat chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, etc.? 

6. What are tips for shopping for reasonable price healthy produce? 

7. How do you cook for a single person and a family? 

8. Shaun, you advocate for people to have a cookbook to develop healthy lifestyles. What do you mean by this? 

9. Tambra, you advocate for children to have or be food sheroes. Can you elaborate on this and what you’re doing at WANDA and Nativsol?  

10. If you had one billboard, what is one thing you would want people to remember you by?

In this episode of Empowered Patient Health, host Mohamed Kamara and guest Dr. Afrouz Demeri, ND, discuss in detail the various stages of a woman’s life — pre-conception, women in their reproductive years, pre-menopause and post-menopause — and specific health concerns and screenings associated with each stage. They also outline recent developments and devices that make treating women’s health issues, including infertility, safer and more effective. You'll learn the key to hormonal balance and reproductive health. Additionally, the things both woman and man can do before childbearing to ensure a successful pregnancy and delivery. 

Priyanka Surio, MPH, PMP, CHES, serves as the Director of Data Analytics and Public Health Informatics within the Association of State and Territorial Health Official's (ASTHO) Health Security Team, where she manages the data and informatics project portfolio across ASTHO. Ms. Surio co-lead the Data Management and Surveillance Taskforce as part of ASTHO’s COVID-19 response to assist state and territorial health agencies. Within the Informatics project portfolio, ASTHO works with state and territorial health agencies on improving data sharing and governance, interoperability, electronic disease reporting, data and informatics capacity, data needs assessments, health IT infrastructure, informatics strategic planning and workforce development. Ms. Surio is an accomplished leader with over 8 years of experience in healthcare systems process improvement and expertise in project management, research methods, data analytics and informatics, and health policy. Prior to ASTHO, she consulted for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) on the Diffusion of Excellence Initiative, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a STEM diversity and inclusion strategy. She completed fellowships with the American Medical Group Association and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Ms. Surio is also an author on smarter travel experiences and establishing more authentic human connections.

Dr. Michael L. Jones is the founder of Jones Healthcare Solutions, LLC and serves as the Senior Consultant and Trainer. Michael is responsible for assisting individuals and organizations in addressing various healthcare issues to improve health outcomes for populations. Michael began his career in health care as an Orthopedic Nurse at the sole Academic Medical Center in the state of Mississippi, the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He later served as a Spinal Cord Injury Nurse at a major rehabilitation center in the state of Mississippi. After caring for many underserved patients, Michael developed a passion for ensuring these populations not only have access to care, but also positive health outcomes. As such, he has dedicated himself to improving the health of populations. Michael has served in various capacities throughout his career in health care and nursing, including as Chief Community Health Officer for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he developed programs and led many projects aimed at addressing health disparities in the state of Mississippi. During his tenure as the Chief Community Health Officer, Michael oversaw a partnership between the sole Academic Medical Center and the largest Federally Qualified Health Center in the state of Mississippi. Michael has served on various boards and committees and has been recognized for this efforts. He was the recipient of the Mississippi State Medical Association Award for Excellence in Wellness Promotion in 2013.

Michael currently serves as Adjunct Faculty for the Jackson State University School of Public Health (Jackson, Mississippi), where he serves faithfully and with passion to educate the state's future healthcare administrators. Michael has also served as an Adjunct Nursing Faculty member in various schools of nursing. Michael has given a number of presentations and lectures on a local, state, and national level related to the elimination of health disparities.

Michael received his formal education from Meridian Community College (Meridian, Mississippi) and the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Nursing (Jackson, Mississippi).  In March of 2020, he successfully defended his dissertation titled "Perceptions of Rural Community-Based Nurses and Perceived Family Stigma Related to HIV/AIDS: A Mixed Methods Study" at  Hampton University School of Nursing, which is an HBCU (Hampton, Virginia). Michael became the first African-American male and only the third male to successfully defend a dissertation in the PhD Nursing Program at Hampton University. Michael is also the first African-American male to earn a PhD in Nursing from an HBCU. On April 8, 2020, Dr. Jones had the opportunity to interview during the Positive Vibes Only segment of "Beyond the Headlines with Renee Washington" of Fox Radio. During this interview, Dr. Jones discusses the historic significance of earning his PhD in Nursing at Hampton University, his career track, and COVID-19.

As a nationally recognized diagnostic radiologist and fitness expert, Dr. Nina Watson (also known as Dr. Nina) is board-certified in diagnostic radiology with expertise in women’s imaging. She is a sought-after speaker, consultant, and medicolegal expert. Through her speaking engagements, social media presence, and work with various media outlets, Dr. Nina provides insights and strategies for improving wellness. She discusses actionable and real-world strategies to help busy professionals take control of their health. Dr. Nina obtained her Doctorate of Medicine degree from Yale University School of Medicine. She trained at Columbia University affiliated Harlem Hospital Center and Columbia University- New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Nina is a practicing physician, working in underserved areas throughout the country, and serves on national committees with the American Board of Radiology, American College of Radiology, and Society of Breast Imaging.

Website: https://inovcares.com/podcast

Representation matters in media and television. The narrative and story of certain demographics are told through the lens of people without lived experiences. DeShuna Spencer took this challenge and is changing the narrative through kweliTV, Inc., an interactive video streaming network dedicated to the issues, stories and culture of the global black community. Recently, KweliTV became available on Comcast Xfinity X1 and Flex, allowing the stories of 250+ promising and award-winning independent-mostly black - filmmakers to become available to a larger audience.

DeShuna Elisa Spencer is the Founder & CEO of kweliTV, which celebrates global black culture through curated, undiscovered and award-winning indie films, documentaries, web series, children’s programming and events. She’s a former radio host and producer of emPower Hour, a show that examined social justice issues affecting people of color, on Washington, DC’s 89.3 FM WPFW. A Memphis native, Spencer graduated from Jackson State University where she studied communications and journalism. She has written for The Clarion-Ledger, The Oakland Tribune and the Crisis Magazine. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Spencer served as Director of Communications for EdMarket where she ran the communications department and managed all media properties for the organization. A former AmeriCorps*VISTA and Chips Quinn Scholar, Spencer recently completed her first documentary, Mom Interrupted, which tackles gun violence through the stories of the ones most impacted—the mothers of murdered young black men and women. She is a Halcyon Incubator Fellow, a Voqal Fellow and a Google NexGen Policy Leader. Spencer was first place winner of the 2017 Harvard Business School African Business Conference Pitch Competition. In 2019, she was featured in “How We Fight White Supremacy” as one of the more than 60+ black leading organizers, artists, journalist, entrepreneurs, etc., (including Ta-Nehisi Coates & Tarana Burke) who offered wisdom on how to fight white supremacy through their work. She’s an advisory board member of Full Color Future and the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association.