Media Coverage
At Mom Congress, America's mothers are making their voices heard
Motherly
Heather Marcoux
May 3, 2019
Mothers in America are worried. They are worried about maternal mortality rates and a lack of support for perinatal depression, not to mention the lack of paid family leave and the sky-high cost of childcare.
And America's moms aren't just sitting around and worrying, they're making sure that policymakers are hearing from the women who are making and raising America's babies.
On May 5-7 mamas from across the nation will gather in Washington, D.C., for Mom Congress, a multi-day convention aiming to amplify the problems with perinatal care, depression and birth in this country, and get lawmakers to take action through policy change.
Motherly Co-founder Liz Tenety will be speaking at Mom Congress because—as Tenety has previously noted—America's mothers feel like they are failing when really society is failing its mothers. In the most serious cases, it is failing to simply provide them with adequate care during childbirth.
"Giving birth in America is shockingly dangerous: Discrimination against women, and women of color in particular, has led to an appalling maternal health crisis — where women's voices are not heard, women's needs are not met, and they, as well as their children and families, suffer," Tenety explains.
Christy Turlington Burns Celebrating Moms
Serendipity Magazine
By Judy Koutsky
After enduring a pregnancy-related complication when she delivered her daughter Grace in 2003, former model Christy Turlington Burns learned that hundreds of thousands of women and girls die each year from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications, often from lack of basic and emergency obstetric care. In response, she launched Every Mother Counts (EMC) to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother, everywhere. This year, Turlington will be running her ninth marathon on behalf of Team EMC, and on May 6 and 7 she’ll be at the Mom Congress in Washington, DC. “I haven’t modeled full time in 30 years,” she shares. “I always knew that my first career was not going to be the end-all for me and I continued to challenge and push myself to grow and evolve. I went back to school in the mid-’90s and from there I was able to start a business, write a book, start a family, make a documentary and start this organization.” Mother’s Day is a big deal at EMC and donations can be made in honor of a mom. “Our Mother’s Day race is the Bridgehampton 5K and half-marathon and there are still spots available.”