Share your pregnancy story: have you recently had a baby or support someone who has?
This story is part of a larger story led by Dana Ullman, a 2021 California Fellow who is reporting on disparities in the quality and access to health care for Latino and Indigenous peoples in Mendocino County.
Her other stories include:
In Covelo, COVID clinics expand to reach more communities across Mendo
A ‘silver lining:’ Promotores de Salud fill gaps in public health response through community trust
What’s in a harm reduction kit, anyway?
Our resource guide for harm reduction and drug treatment services in Mendocino County
Looking for light in the darkness: Addressing suicide in Mendocino County
For birthing parents on the Mendocino Coast, labor and delivery centers are a disappearing act
A baby's foot.
MENDOCINO Co., 7/17/21 — Have you had a baby or supported someone through their pregnancy in Mendocino County during the pandemic? Has the pandemic made access to perinatal care, supportive services, or childcare more difficult? Were you affected by last year’s closure of Mendocino Coast District Hospital’s Labor and Delivery Center in Fort Bragg?
The Mendocino Voice wants to hear from families across the county about COVID-19’s impact on your experience being pregnant, giving birth and accessing perinatal care for a story about the challenges of being pregnant in Mendocino County, particularly in pandemic times, and what’s being done to address it. If you’d like to share your story, help us understand the realities for birthing parents in Mendocino County.
We are hoping to hear from birthing parents who have faced significant personal, emotional, or financial challenges due to the pandemic and the response – positive and negative – by healthcare providers and facilities and support services. Your experience is important to our community. We hope to hear from a range of experiences to help us have a more complete picture of what it’s like to give birth on the Coast.
We want to hear about:
- Last year’s closure of MCHC’s Labor and Delivery Center in Fort Bragg and its impact on your family
- Your decisions to delay prenatal care due to fears of entering hospitals or health facilities or simply because it was too far away
- Your experience giving birth in an emergency room
- Your experiences and concerns with having to travel longer distances to get to your prenatal appointments and give birth. Did you stay in a motel? Did you have difficulty with childcare? Did you have to make hard decisions about who would go with you for your appointments?
- Your experience accessing perinatal and support services during the pandemic
- Your concerns or satisfaction with perinatal care in Mendocino County
- Your struggles with mental health as a result of these challenges (for you or your loved ones)
- Anything else that we might not be aware of, which would help us tell a fuller story about this issue.
You can fill out the google form below or email Dana, our health reporter, at dana@mendovoice.com.
[This article was originally published by The Mendocino Voice.]
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