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1/ In recent years I've been honored to give opening keynotes at @acog @RCObsGyn @ACNMmidwives @DONAIntl @AWHONN...
each about the shared work to create a world in which every person can choose to grow their family with dignity
For #AWHONN2020 I decided to focus on TRUST https://twitter.com/AWHONN/status/1322893747135352832
each about the shared work to create a world in which every person can choose to grow their family with dignity
For #AWHONN2020 I decided to focus on TRUST https://twitter.com/AWHONN/status/1322893747135352832
2/ The title of my talk is “Building Trustworthy Systems for Childbirth”
Not because I’m an expert at this topic
But because I’m struggling with it
Not because I’m an expert at this topic
But because I’m struggling with it
3/ Childbirth is not just a transient episode in the lives of some people -- it is the foundational episode in the lives of all people.
It is a bellwether for the wellbeing of our society at large. Right now society is not well.
It is a bellwether for the wellbeing of our society at large. Right now society is not well.
4/ Maternal health is not just a place where racism shows up.
It is one of the leading indicators that childbirth is a clear and present danger in America--a place where Black and Native people are most likely to die in the process https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/nyregion/childbirth-Covid-Black-mothers.html
It is one of the leading indicators that childbirth is a clear and present danger in America--a place where Black and Native people are most likely to die in the process https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/nyregion/childbirth-Covid-Black-mothers.html
5/ COVID-19 has taken every societal inequity and thrown it into a pressure cooker -- this #AWHONN2020 keynote comes at a time of political upheaval and civil unrest that is truly unprecedented in my lifetime
6/ I’ve spent my career aiming to be thoughtfully critical of the systems I’m a part of in service of progress
But right now so many people’s trauma is at the surface -- holding space while avoiding triggers is harder than ever
But right now so many people’s trauma is at the surface -- holding space while avoiding triggers is harder than ever
7/ The trauma of the moment is not universally shared, and often conflicts at the front lines of delivering health care.
8/ So many people from historically oppressed and marginalized communities, who are suffering disproportionately during the pandemic, feel dismissed and condemned.
So many clinicians working at the front lines feel blamed and condemned.
So many clinicians working at the front lines feel blamed and condemned.
9/ I believe we need to stop taking trust for granted and make it a deliberate goal of our health systems.
I believe we need to stop treating empathy as a virtue that separates “good” people and “bad” people, and instead turn it into a strategy for a better world (using data)
I believe we need to stop treating empathy as a virtue that separates “good” people and “bad” people, and instead turn it into a strategy for a better world (using data)
10/ We should start by aiming higher.
11/ And also remembering...according to the American people, nurses are the most trustworthy profession by FAR.
It would make sense then to put nurses at the lead of this effort.
It would make sense then to put nurses at the lead of this effort.
