00:00Hello and welcome to Essence
00:08house. I'm Angela Yee and I'm really excited to bring this important
00:15discussion with you today. We're going to be talking about improving
00:18maternal health for black women. Now the reason why this discussion is so
00:21important is the US has the highest maternal death rate among the world's
00:25developed nations. And according to America's health rankings, 2020 health of
00:29women and Children report maternal mortality for black women is two to
00:33three times more likely than Caucasian women. London Lamar, she currently serves
00:38as an advocate and Tennessee state representative. She's the youngest
00:41female legislator in the Tennessee General Assembly. Representative Lamar's
00:45voice has remained the conscious of the legislature fighting for our families and
00:49for our future. She's dedicated her life and career to uplifting the lived
00:53experiences of women and families by empowering them to advance policy on the
00:57national state and local levels that expands access to health care and
01:01education. And this is Jessie Thompson, coach Jessie, and she's a fibroid
01:06survivor turned nutritionist. She's founder of the online wellness platform,
01:09the detox now.com and host of the detox living podcast. Coach Jessie, welcome.
01:14Thank you. So happy to be at Essence wellness house today.
01:19Well, thank you ladies for agreeing to share some very personal stories with us of
01:24experiences that you've had when it comes to black maternal health care. And I'm
01:28going to start with you, London, because we were discussing the top three causes of
01:32death, right? Or near death while giving birth as hemorrhages, hypertension,
01:37thrombotic and pulmonary embolisms. And you had an experience too.
01:41Absolutely. So I had a late term pregnancy loss in 2009, excuse me, 2019. And I lost my son due to
01:51preeclampsia and I had an abruption. And so I also was very close to having a near death experience
01:58because my blood pressure was so high that they had to put me down so that I could even go through
02:04the whole birthing process and have to have a c-section and all of these things. And so because of that
02:09experience, it just furthered my advocacy around reproductive health and justice and especially black
02:15maternal health, it really started in 2015 when my cousin died at eight months pregnant at the same
02:22age of 28 years old and she died and lost her baby. And so that's why I got into the advocacy work
02:28around this. And then it happened to me at the same age. And so for me, not only is it my lived experiences,
02:34it's happening to so many black women across the country with our genetics and health disparities.
02:39And so to be, have to go through that in front of the whole world as an elected official,
02:44everybody knew about it. Obviously I can't hide a baby, you know, being in the public eye every day.
02:50Um, I had to live that trauma in front of everybody. It was a very daunting experience.
02:55But one thing about me, I truly believe that as the youngest female and the only woman of childbearing
03:00ages in their ages in the state house in Tennessee, I have to turn my story into policy change. And from there,
03:07I've been able to get significant legislation passed and worked on and around black maternal health
03:13in the state of Tennessee. I mean, truly becoming the face of that. So I'm pushing legislation
03:18that's in summer study around implicit bias training for the doctors. So they know how to deal with
03:24women of color, know how to talk with us. And our most significant piece of legislation,
03:28which is House Joint Resolution 4 recognizes doulas as official vital health professionals to the birthing
03:35community. Those are the things that black women need to make sure that we are completely well
03:40because ourselves and our children deserve a chance to live just like everybody else in this country.
03:46See, London, that's why it's so important for people like you to be in the positions that you're in
03:50so that you can create these legislations and push them and make sure that people are aware.
03:54Because like you said, you're the only woman of childbearing age that is, you know, in Tennessee,
04:00that is going hard for that. So you've had your own experiences and you turn that into something
04:05that's going to help other people. And we appreciate you so much for that. I didn't even know what a
04:09doula was until a few years ago. So I can just imagine and, you know, just being in the position that I
04:14am. I met a woman who's a doula. That's how I even learned about it. So I appreciate that.
04:19And Coach Jesse, let's take it over to you because I know that you've had your own personal issues.
04:25And I love that we're getting personal in here today. And we met and discussed the fact that
04:30you suffered from fibroids and didn't even think you could have children.
04:34I actually was one of the up to 90 percent of Black women who battle fibroids by age 50.
04:41And in my case, London, you know, and Angela, my fibroids caused infertility and several surgeries
04:49that caused we're talking now up to 15 and real complications that caused near miss. You know,
04:57that that word that you were talking about, Angela, it's called near misses, where my heart even stopped
05:02on the operating table from from actual complications from all the surgeries. And I am so blessed that I
05:10do have the privilege of raising my miracle baby today. But just like our sister, London, so many of
05:17our sisters battle this and the fibroids, you know, they cause they're actually one of the leading causes
05:24of why women miscarry. They can have complications during pregnancy that are even fatal, even in
05:32infertility to miscarriage and fatalities during the pregnancy. London and coach Jesse, I wanted to
05:37ask both of you, what are some actionable things that women can do before pregnancy, during pregnancy,
05:43and while they are in that hospital giving birth to make sure that they are empowered?
05:47So I'm glad you asked that question because I was just having a conversation with a friend of
05:52mine, Maya Peek, who's a doula in Memphis. And we were talking about the importance of preparing
05:57yourself for the birthing process. That means in advance, eating healthy in our households,
06:03like taking care of our bodies, making sure we're exercising, not just during the 10 months that
06:08you feel motivated to do that, but before, like have those conversations. And the Black community,
06:14we're suffering from diabetes, hypertension, all of these different issues because we can take personal
06:21accountability for our bodies and what we put in them and take care of them on the front end.
06:26We must also hold each other accountable for making sure we have the support during the birthing
06:32process, making sure we keep a village of individuals who can support us, make sure they keep stress out
06:37the way, having the love and care that we need because a lot of Black women, especially Black women,
06:44we have so many stressors going on that prevent us from being able to have safe, healthy. I remember
06:50that we're stressing about that we're stressing about so much, gotta be a politician, gotta be here,
06:54scare somebody is going to run against me because I'm an unmarried pregnant girl who's young
06:59in the legislature. Like all of those contributed also to my high blood pressure and stress.
07:03So we can do a better job of taking care of ourselves physically and taking ownership
07:08in creating a safe mental, emotional space for us in this process.
07:13The formula I have for women to what I call achieve health equity is called listen to your bay.
07:21It's body advocates and experts. So it kind of puts it all together, right? So listening to your bay,
07:28your body, that's two parts. You got to listen to your body means there's the two Ps of your body,
07:32the pain and the prevention. Listen to your pain. Your pain is your body's way of saying something is
07:40wrong. Then there's the prevention piece. Prevention is our, like Sister Lyndon would say, our superpower
07:47for taking control of our health, okay? That means, yes, controlling what we put in our, what we,
07:53what the, the source of disease is what we consume spiritually, emotionally, and physically. So listen to
08:00your bay, body advocates and experts. All right. Well, I want to thank you ladies so much. You know,
08:07this was a really important conversation. I know we're going to have plenty more of these
08:11because the work is nowhere near done. But I just love that we can bring these
08:15conversations to the forefront. Where can people find a doula if they need to find one? Is there a place
08:20that has resources? How can you find a great doula to work with you? So you can reach out to your OBGYN and ask them to recommend doulas.
08:30There are social media. I look up cities and reach out and go look through the doula profiles and
08:37interview them. I interviewed the doulas that I were going to hire. So also take that process. So
08:43that's how you can find a doula. And if you need help find a doula, please follow me on Instagram
08:48at London Lamar TN and send me a DM and I respond to all of my messages and I'll connect you with the best
08:54doulas around the country. If I can interject here also, Essence posted a phenomenal list of top 10
09:01black doulas. Search it on their website. It was a wonderful report that they did. And it was really,
09:06I actually was helping our mutual friend find doulas. And we were looking through the list and there
09:11were some really great ones. And, you know, I'm also very responsive on social media, Coach G-E-S-S-I-E.
09:18And in our, in the link in my bio, I have a black maternal health survival kit that includes the
09:24petition that we all need to sign this momnibus petition at our brother, Charles Johnson for
09:30care for moms.com. He's an advocate on this national legislation.
09:34And I must drop this in. That's a great point. But don't forget to go to the polls next year
09:39and vote in leaders who will advocate for black maternal health and support policies that's going
09:45to advance us having resources and support for our community so we can have our babies just like
09:50everybody else. So y'all, don't forget to vote next year. And local elections matter. Your state level
09:56and your local level are those who have a true hand in making sure we can get these policies done.
10:02So I need you to get out there and register to vote and go to the polls and elect champions for
10:08black women into offices. I need help. I can't be the only one. And London Lamar is living proof
10:13of why y'all need to go out and vote, right? Well, thank you ladies so much. And I also do want to
10:19say as we close, don't be afraid to also undergo training and become a doula because we do need more.
10:25So I think that would also be a great experience if this is something that you might even be thinking
10:29about. But thank you all so much. Essence Wellness House, London Lamar and coach Jesse. Thank you.
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