Op-eds

"i nearly died after giving birth. now i'm on a mission for other moms."

This is a story about how I almost died after giving birth two years ago – and what I’m doing about it now to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else.

It's So Damn Hard to Be a Mom in STEM and This New Attrition Stat Proves It

I will never forget the feeling of watching the clock as I waited for the end of a day-long experiment, just a month after coming back to work from maternity leave. This experiment had no pauses for me to pump. All. Day. Long. I had leaked through my shirt and felt lucky I was wearing a polyester lab coat so it wouldn’t leak through that too. The pain as I waited those last five minutes was excruciating. I found myself clutching my breasts a few times, hoping no one in the lab noticed. As the seconds ticked down and I completed my experiment for the day, I literally ran with my pump down to the lactation center to find sweet relief.

Becoming A National Maternal Health Advocate while Pursuing a Postdoc: a Story of Transformation

I am more than JUST a scientist or researcher. I am a women’s reproductive health advocate. I am also a mother who survived life-threatening childbirth complications two years ago. In spite of everything, I am thriving.