When Arise members convened at last year’s Annual Meeting to choose our 2024 legislative priorities, you voted to add maternal and infant health to our agenda. Most people didn’t know I was nearly eight weeks pregnant with my first child at the time!

As our team studied how we could improve maternal and infant health outcomes through our advocacy and organizing, we learned a lot from you, our partners and our new maternal health fellow.

Little did I know that what I was learning about maternal and infant health would soon affect me personally. At a routine 28-week checkup, I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia, one of the leading causes of maternal death. Soon after, my son Hank was born three months early, causing him to spend more than 80 days in UAB’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

While Hank and I are home now, happy and healthy, we were extremely lucky. Too many moms lack access to routine prenatal and postpartum care, transportation and paid family leave. I saw firsthand how many were struggling in our state’s only Level 4 NICU. I learned that around 10% of babies born in the United States will spend some time in the NICU. In a state that claims to care about babies, mothers and families still do not have the support they need. This causes us to have the third-worst rate of maternal mortality in the country. 

My family was lucky to have the support we needed. I wish the same for all those who wish to become parents. Together, Arise members envision a state where everyone has the support they need to have the family they choose. Thank you for pushing our leaders to make this a reality.