The State of Maternal and Reproductive Health in the U.S.
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF Feb. 24, 2025
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: The State of Maternal and Reproductive Health in the U.S.
Speaker: Dr Donna Adams-Pickett
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Message from our President
Welcome our members, fellow Rotarians, friends, and guests. Thanks for joining our weekly meeting!
WEEKLY FUNNY WITH SHAGS
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!
How Long?
A boy, frustrated with all the rules he had to follow, asked his father, "Dad, how soon will I be old enough to do whatever I want?"
The father answered immediately, "I don't know. Nobody has lived that long yet."
INSPIRATION
Let's finish off February with an inspirational sports video. The audio is just a bit behind the video, but other than that, the finish to this Stanford-Notre Dame conference playoff soccer match is one to remember.
LEARN SOMETHING NEW
Sesame Street Puppeteers
Meet the current group and learn how they work their puppets. About 7.5 minutes.
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PROGRAM: The State of Maternal and Reproductive Health in the U.S.
SPEAKER: Dr Donna Adams-Pickett
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
Dr Adams-Pickett's message to us:
It's called a miracle for a reason. Any pregnancy that ends in a healthy baby and mother reaches that outcome through a miraculous culmination of science, medical know-how, genetic fortune and most of all, luck. Unfortunately, in the United States, because of varying legislative measures, access barriers, and rapidly diminishing resources, the luck for many women in our country is vanishing. As we continue to outpace other industrialized countries in astounding technological advances, we also continue to outpace those countries in our maternal morbidity and mortality rates.
How did we find ourselves here? Is there anything we can do to change this trajectory or does the current political landscape leave us to believe that we are destined to less than greatness when it comes to women's health? For those of us who have dedicated our lives to their health and well-being our roles remain clear--protect birthing women. However, navigating our ability to do so successfully has now taken on a new level of complexity. Are we truly prepared for the challenge?
Dr. Donna Adams-Pickett (PhD, MD, FACOG) is the CEO and owner of Augusta Women's Health & Wellness Center. Dr. Adams-Pickett is a graduate of Howard University, the Medical College of Georgia where she earned a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology, and Emory University, where she earned her Doctor of Medicine degree. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology from the Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Adams-Pickett is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
As a tireless advocate for women's health concerns, her expertise has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, The Laura Coates Show, Vice Media and the PBS Newshour. She was most recently featured in the documentary "Birthing Justice," a look at the Black maternal mortality crisis facing the United States. Dr. Adams-Pickett is dedicated to community advocacy and education. She is the author of two books on puberty, Big Sis' Guide to Growing Up and Buddy's Big Guy Guidebook. Dr. Adams-Pickett is the founder of McStuffin Mommies, a collective of over 1400 physician mothers of color. She is also the founder of Mocha OB, a community of over 800 OB/GYN physicians of color. She has dedicated her life to increasing health education in and about historically marginalized communities.
Members and guests, please welcome Dr Donna Adams-Pickett!
To learn more, go to:
PBS News Hour: "Brief, But Spectacular Take on Being A Women’s Health Care Warrior"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT0rL4TvX-I
Vice Media: "Inside Georgia’s Maternal Mortality Crisis"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT0rL4TvX-I
The New York Times: Unwanted Epidurals, Untreated Pain: Black Women Tell Their Birth Stories:
To learn more about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT0rL4TvX-I
Our Three Podcast Series
Our main program speakers are available as podcasts in addition to YouTube videos! Each week, they are available on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
Or you can click below for this week’s speaker:
The Weekly Rotarian
Inspiring Solutions
And our original podcast, featuring some of the best of our previous speakers, is still available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Development Success Stories
Our third podcast features success stories about economic development from around the world. It is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or you can click below.
UPCOMING PROGRAM RECORDING SCHEDULE
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
THE ATTENDANCE SURVEY
Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done.
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