‘I just don't want to die’: Black pregnant women are turning to midwives for personalized care — and a better chance at survival

August 8, 2023 Guest User

Home from the hospital, Amoni Thompson-Jones; her husband, Casey Jones; and their newborn baby, Amara Thompson, meet with midwife Ebony Simpson in their Alexandria, Virginia, apartment. Thompson-Jones told Simpson how unhappy she was with the hospital care she received. She said she felt as if the doctors had a “birth playlist” they followed whenever a woman came in and didn’t really listen to her concerns. Even if, like Thompson-Jones, the mother ultimately gives birth in a hospital, the midwives do follow-up postpartum checks with mother and baby for up to a year after the birth.

In Virginia, Black women in recent years have been more than twice as likely as other mothers to have a death attributed to childbirth.

Photographer Karen Kasmauski followed the work of Black midwives between January and April this year in Virginia. Her series of photographs traces the relationships formed between midwives and their clients — from initial consultations and prenatal meetings to the birth and support in the months following pregnancy.

For expectant and new mothers in Virginia, troubling COVID-19 trend

April 19, 2023 Guest User

Erashea Bellany holds her daughter, Amenjah. Bellany, from Richmond, gave birth at her mother’s home in Hampton. After delivery, Erashea hemorrhaged and her midwife, Nicole Wardlaw, rushed her to the Sentara CarePlex hospital in Hampton. Both mother and daughter are doing fine. *Photo by Karen Kasmauski // Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO*

Virginia’s maternal mortality rate leaped by 130% during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO. In 2021, women in Virginia died of pregnancy-related complications at a rate of 50.1 per 100,000 births, more than double the pre-pandemic rate in 2019, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Virginia mothers died of pregnancy-related complications at a rate of 21.6 per 100,000 births in 2019.

The state also fared poorly compared to the U.S. average of 33 deaths per 100,000 births in 2021. Only Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama had higher death rates of the 22 states with publicly available data.

Moving toward independence

April 6, 2023 Guest User

On Thanksgiving 2022, Barb Baxter shared a moment with her son, Pete, in the family’s kitchen. Pete, 24, is autistic and has an intellectual disability. He recently moved into a Charlottesville apartment with the steady support and supervision of family and community.

The road to adulthood begins for most when they graduate from high school and move on to a first job or college, to paying bills and living on their own. But for people with cognitive disabilities or autism, leaving high school is a more monumental step, one that will transform their relation to their families and the community that supports them.

That monumental step has been on the minds of Andrew and Barb Baxter, both 57, of Charlottesville, Va. for years. Their 24-year-old son, Peter, is on the autism spectrum and has an intellectual disability.

Forever chemicals a perpetual threat to Virginia drinking water

March 22, 2023 Chris Tyree

Wallops Flight Facility public affairs chief Jeremy Eggers, left, and NASA restoration program manager David Liu examine the granular activated carbon filtration system designed to filter toxic PFAS chemicals from the town of Chincoteague’s drinking water on November 16, 2022.

Toxic chemicals used to fight fires and found in a wide range of household and industrial goods for decades have ended up in drinking water across the state. Virginia health and environmental agencies have only begun to measure the scope of the problem. How worried should we be?

A generational challenge - Where are Virginia’s Black male doctors?

October 5, 2022 Leah Small // VCIJ at WHRO

Jaz-Munn “Jaz” Johnson plays with a child during a healthy baby clinic at the Whitcomb Court Park and Recreation Center, 2302 Carmine St, Richmond, Va. Whitcomb Court is a public housing community.

Despite historic changes in educational and economic opportunities, the share of U.S. physicians who are Black men has remained unchanged since 1940. Virginia medical schools are still struggling to attract talented young men – a key to building trust between healthcare providers and the Black community.

Few Virginia Employers Pay Fines for COVID-19 Violations

August 30, 2021 Chris Tyree

Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold particles) emerging from the surface of a cell cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. Image captured and colorized at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. Credit: NIAID — **Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2**
This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold particles) emerging from the surface of a cell cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. Image captured and colorized at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. *Credit: NIAID*

An analysis of federal and Virginia worker safety records by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism found a dramatic increase in workforce complaints, coupled with a steep decline in inspections since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020.

Workers and a federal watchdog say the lack of adequate oversight has left employees in front-line jobs at a higher risk for infection. The virus has taken the lives of more than 11,600 Virginians.

For some Virginia frontline workers, a struggle for Covid-19 compensation

May 6, 2021 Chris Tyree

Arlington Public Schools (APS) provides Grab-and-Go Meals during the COVID-19 closure at Kenmore Middle School. Frontline workers who contracted Covid at work may struggle for compensation. USDA photo by Tom Witham

Gov. Ralph Northam last month signed two bills into law that will make it easier for some frontline workers who become sick with the coronavirus to collect workers’ compensation benefits. The new laws create a presumption that medical personnel, law enforcement officers and firefighters sickened with Covid-19 acquired the disease at work, making them more likely to be covered for lost wages and health care costs.

But these measures leave tens of thousands of low-paid frontline workers without favorable recourse: Cleaners, grocery workers, home health aides, meat and poultry workers.

Season of Uncertainty

October 26, 2020 Chris Tyree

Migrant farm workers on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, harvest tomatoes earlier this summer.photo courtesy of farm worker — Migrant farm workers on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, harvest tomatoes earlier this summer.
*photo courtesy of farm worker*

Gaps in farmworker protections elevate covid risks for Virginia’s migrant workers.

More than 10,000 migrant farmers travelled to Virginia this year during the deadly pandemic to plant and harvest crops at more than 250 Virginia farms and orchards, according to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC). Despite the health crisis, the influx of migrants this year changed little from previous harvests, according to VEC estimates.

The immigrant workers -- overwhelmingly Latino -- drive one of the commonwealth’s key industries. Now, they face some of the greatest risks of covid infection through crowded work and living conditions.

In rural Virginia, the paradox of a pandemic

July 2, 2020 Chris Tyree

Main Street in Hot Springs, Virginia, sits nearly empty on a Friday afternoon in late June—ordinarily the town's busy season.

The coronavirus paradox of rural Virginia — Bath County has no confirmed COVID-19 cases, yet the unemployment rate soared to a state-high 20.5% in April, before dropping back to 15.8% in May. State-ordered pandemic restrictions have stirred community tensions in a region already burdened with decades of job losses and population decline.

Coronavirus Casualty: Mental Health Treatment

June 12, 2020 Chris Tyree

Austin Sweigart, an event planner for the LGBTQ+ community who uses they and them pronouns, says that they had trouble getting mental health counseling and medical treatment during the pandemic. They are not alone. Public and private mental health c… — Austin Sweigart, an event planner for the LGBTQ+ community who uses they and them pronouns, says that they had trouble getting mental health counseling and medical treatment during the pandemic. They are not alone. Public and private mental health care providers in Virginia say they have been forced to change not only the ways they offer certain services to patients but also whether they offer them at all. Photographs by Christopher Tyree // VCIJ

Public and private mental health care providers in Virginia say they have been forced to change not only the ways they offer certain services to patients, but also whether they offer them at all. The virus has upended care across state facilities, which serve more than 200,000 Virginians every year

Schools struggle to provide mental health resources during Coronavirus Crisis

May 7, 2020 Chris Tyree

Virginia school administrators say they are struggling to provide mental health services during the coronavirus pandemic, even as vulnerable students continue with online studies away from regular counseling and support.

As school systems move to virtual learning, school counseling resources, deemed critical to student wellness by the U.S. Department of Education, are unable to provide in-person therapy for high-risk students. The alternative treatments -- online sessions or new therapists from community services boards -- could fall short in continuing care and supporting students during the pandemic, mental health professionals say.