A MESSAGE FROM Brenna
Friends & Family!
I am excited and honored to share that I am raising funds and awareness for maternal healthcare as part of the Every Mother Counts fundraising team running 26.2 miles in November's TCS New York City Marathon - woo!
Every Mother Counts' mission is to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother, everywhere. It has been a dream of mine to fundraise with Run EMC. I first learned of this incredible organization after the birth my first son in 2018 and was moved by their attention on mothers -- often an afterthought in the room following labor & delivery.
My pregnancies had complications: With my first son, I remained hospitalized for 1 week postpartum with preeclampsia. It took 3 months of medications and monitoring for my blood pressure to normalize and I had to continually advocate for attention & care from my then OBGYN.
With my second son -- and a new care team, close monitoring, conscientious maternal care, plus personal empowerment -- gestational hypertension came calling and I was induced at 37 weeks for the safety of both of us. Despite these precautions, postpartum preeclampsia reared its ugly head again and I was re-hospitalized (twice!) for treatment within just 7 days of delivery, separated from my newborn in a Covid-19 world. This time around, I knew more and was better prepared to vocalize the medical attention needed for my wellbeing and recovery.
Moreover, I recognized that even in this privileged, well-resourced maternal care experience, my prenatal and postnatal road was bumpy -- how much harder then for mothers in places without access to quality, equitable, and respectful maternal care?
These incredibly powerful facts underscore precisely why I'm running and raising funds for EMC:
1. Around the world, nearly 300,000 women die from complications due to pregnancy and childbirth - an astonishing 1 woman every 2 minutes. Almost all of these can be prevented by access to care.
2. In the U.S., over the past 2 decades, maternal mortality rates have doubled.
3. For the first time ever, a woman is as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than her mother was a generation ago.
4. The U.S. is one of only two countries in the world with a rising maternal mortality rate.
5. Black and Indigenous women are up to 3x more likely than white woman to die from pregnancy and pregnancy-related complications, and more likely to experience near misses or severe complications.
We *can* change this.
We *must* change this.
Please consider donating what you can -- perhaps $1 for each of the 26.2 miles I'll be running -- and please join me in this movement supporting all mothers, everywhere.
Neeeeeew Yorrrrrrrk Cityyyyyyyyyyy: I hope to see you on the sidelines of the race course!
In gratitude,
Brenna
Mama to Theo (age 4) and Lachlan (age 2)
