6. What’s Missing in Maternal Health?

The complications started around week 18 of Marquisse Watson’s pregnancy. Six weeks later, her baby girl Alana was born premature. Marquisse and her husband Antwon had bought the baby clothes, gotten the nursery ready… but Alana passed away 36 hours after she was born. This week, we talk to Marquisse about working through her grief seven years later. We’re joined by Venice Haynes and Meredith Shockley-Smith to talk broadly about social determinants and why black babies are twice as likely to die than white babies.     Resources from the episode: Learn more about Cradle Cincinnati: http://cradlecincinnati.org and Queens Village: https://www.cradlecincinnati.org/queensvillage/  Check out Marquisse and Antwon’s Alana Marie Project: https://thealanamarieproject.com/ Follow the US of Care on twitter: https://twitter.com/USofCare  Read about the US of Care findings on Americans’ health care needs during COVID-19: https://unitedstatesofcare.org/humanizing-the-response-to-covid-19-by-listening-to-people/  Watch the US of Care Voices of Real Life YouTube series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLchtNczPer_8g7icvpiu2gmVNPr9XPENQ  Keep up with David on twitter @CHIDavidSmith.    Have you been hit with a surprise bill or had an infuriating run-in with the health care system? If you want to submit a patient story, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 833-453-6662.    Support for this episode of The Cost of Care comes from Healthline.com, America’s leading digital health brand. Visit healthline.com/costofcare now, and stay connected by following @healthline on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Healthline: Powering healthy actions and supporting you on your journey to well-being.   Support for this podcast comes from The Commonwealth Fund, a health care research foundation working to improve the U.S. health system. Visit commonwealthfund.org/costofcare, and stay connected by following us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Commonwealth Fund: Affordable, quality health care. For everyone.   You can click this link for a full list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows.   To follow along with a transcript and/or take notes for friends and family, go to https://www.lemonadamedia.com/show/thecostofcare/ shortly after the air date.   Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What's your life worth? Healthcare in the United States can bankrupt you, demoralize you—or actually kill you. Healthcare economist David Smith grew up in a Mormon community in Utah, and lost his father, sister, and brother to the same deadly epidemic. He’s spent his career exploring whether their deaths were preventable and how we can make health a priority for everyone. On The Cost of Care, David and his guests – patients, medical experts, and policy makers – reveal how the wealthiest nation on earth ended up with one of the most expensive, worst-performing health care systems in the world and provide solutions to fix it, together.