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“Even if you’re not going to give birth, I wish for everyone to have a really great reproductive and maternal health and life and postpartum and perimenopausal and postmenopausal, the whole, from puberty to post-menopausal life should be full and whole and supported.” — Lizamarie Mohammed

In Lizamarie Mohammed's Journey through Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Maternal Healthcare System, we speak with Lizamarie Mohammed (she/her), a senior program associate at Rhia Ventures. Lizamarie shares her vastly different experiences with giving birth three times, how the Maternal Healthcare System has shifted and changed along the way, and where it is still ultimately failing us.

Join us for this personal story about pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood and why it’s important to continue advocating for the right support!

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to Lizamarie Mohammed.

• Lizamarie’s role at Rhia Ventures.

• She recounts her decision to be a surrogate for a family member.

• How her experience with pregnancy has changed over the years (and pregnancies).

• Not knowing what to expect postpartum.

• Realizing that the existing maternal health policies weren’t meeting the needs of people giving birth.

• Her experience with providers and feeling supported at the hospital.

• How her second birthing experience differed from the first.

• She recounts why her second postpartum experience felt like a hot mess.

• Her experience breastfeeding and essentially lacking information and support around lactation.

• What it meant to have her partner at home with her for the first few weeks.

• Her thoughts on the difference between the care and support you receive while pregnant versus that which you receive (or don’t) afterward.

• She shares her third birthing experience, this time with a doula and a midwife.

• How the maternal health crisis has influenced the type of care received.

• How her midwife and doula at her third birth let her down, in the end.

• How a shift change (during her third birth) led to a different midwife and a different experience overall.

• Her experience with unknowingly having had preeclampsia, with her first birth, and the fact that she was never notified.

• The dynamic to think about when you have a toddler and a newborn.

• Being allowed to be a person who contains multitudes (during the pregnancy experience).

• Her thoughts on the systems still not meeting all the needs, but there is still room for improvement.

• The importance of having a network of friends for support.

• Figuring out how to also prioritize herself amongst all that motherhood encompasses.

• LIzamarie’s personal goals.

• An often forgotten piece of the postpartum experience: miscarriages and abortions.

• Advice to herself and to others.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Follow Lizamarie Mohammed @LizMohammed

Follow Dina Daines on LinkedIn

IG: @ps_blossom

Twitter: @PS_Blossom

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