S23 E6: Dignified Maternal Care with Doula Melissa Espey-Mueller

*Content warning: death, infant loss, pregnancy and birth trauma, medical trauma, medical neglect, racism

*Free + Confidential Resources + Safety Tips: somethingwaswrong.com/resources   

ABC’s new show, Familicide: https://www.familicide.net/

Melissa Espey-Mueller's North Dallas Doula Associates:

Website: https://www.northdallasdoulas.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/northdallasdoulas/ 

Moms Advocating For Moms

S23 survivors Markeda, Kristen and Amanda have created a nonprofit, Moms Advocating for Moms, in hopes to create a future where maternal well-being is prioritized, disparities are addressed, and every mother has the resources and support she needs to thrive: https://www.momsadvocatingformoms.org/take-action

https://linktr.ee/momsadvocatingformoms 

Please sign the survivors petitions below to improve midwifery education and regulation in Texas:

https://www.change.org/p/improve-midwifery-education-and-regulation-in-texas?recruiter=1336781649&recruited_by_id=74bf3b50-fd98-11ee-9e3f-a55a14340b5a&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink 

Malik's Law 

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB4553 

M.A.M.A. has helped file a Texas bill called Malik's Law, which is intended to implement requirements for midwives in Texas to report birth outcomes in hopes of improving transparency and data collection in the midwifery field in partnership with Senator Claudia Ordaz. 

*Sources:

Best Doula

https://bestdoulatraining.com/ 

CAPPA

https://cappa.net/training-certification/ 

DONA International

https://www.dona.org/ 

Madriella

https://madriella.org/ 

ProDoula

https://www.prodoula.com/ 

American College of Nurse Midwives

https://midwife.org/ 

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)

https://www.acog.org/ 

A Brief History of Midwifery in America

https://www.ohsu.edu/womens-health/brief-history-midwifery-america 

CDC, Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2023

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2023/maternal-mortality-rates-2023.htm 

CDC, Working Together to Reduce Black Maternal Mortality

https://www.cdc.gov/womens-health/features/maternal-mortality.html 

Geospatial distribution of relative cesarean section rates within the USA

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9284873/ 

In Mexico, Midwives Offer Care Rooted In Ancestral Tradition

https://www.pih.org/article/mexico-midwives-offer-care-rooted-ancestral-tradition 

Insights into the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis: An International Comparison

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2024/jun/insights-us-maternal-mortality-crisis-international-comparison?utm_source=chatgpt.com 

March of Dimes

https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/about-us 

Maternal Mortality and Maternity Care in the United States Compared to 10 Other Developed Countries

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/nov/maternal-mortality-maternity-care-us-compared-10-countries 

National Midwifery Institute

https://www.nationalmidwiferyinstitute.com/midwifery 

North American Registry of Midwives (NARM)

https://narm.org/ 

Racism During Pregnancy and Birthing: Experiences from Asian and Pacific Islander, Black, Latina, and Middle Eastern Women

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9713108/ 

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR)

https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/ 

US Has Highest Infant, Maternal Mortality Rates Despite the Most Health Care Spending

https://www.ajmc.com/view/us-has-highest-infant-maternal-mortality-rates-despite-the-most-health-care-spending 

What is a freebirth?

https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/what-is-freebirth 

*SWW S23 Theme Song & Artwork: 

Thank you so much to Emily Wolfe for covering Glad Rag’s original song, U Think U for us this season!

Hear more from Emily Wolfe:

On Spotify

On Apple Music

https://www.emilywolfemusic.com/

instagram.com/emilywolfemusic

Glad Rags: https://www.gladragsmusic.com/ 

The S23 cover art is by the Amazing Sara Stewart