This Mother’s Day
This Mother’s Day, 15 months into a pandemic that has disproportionately impacted mothers, I am reflecting on the extraordinary role that women play in families, communities, and society. I tip my hat to all the mothers who have courageously weathered this past year.
With my own three children grown, my role as a mother continues to be the most fulfilling part of my life, yielding endless rewards. I so enjoy watching my two daughters-in-law relish their own roles as new mothers, and am tremendously grateful that my own mother is able to see her great-grandchildren grow up. The experience of motherhood can be profoundly beautiful, and also make one feel profoundly vulnerable with life’s uncertainties.
To be sure, the pandemic has deepened this dichotomy of beauty and vulnerability one experiences in pregnancy and during child-rearing. It has illuminated long-existing inequalities across society, and women have suffered the most. We know that when the safety and health of a mother is compromised, the whole family is destabilized.
This is why our foundation supports science-based, scalable systems-change initiatives that address the health and education needs of children, teens, young adults and women. Holistic interventions that address the social determinants of health are key to helping vulnerable communities.
This Mother’s Day, LSPFF celebrates pioneering women researchers who explore the impact of a mother’s health and well-being on children and the family, and women nonprofit executives who support mothers in creating healthy lives.
My friend and mentor, Dr. Nancy Adler, is one such pioneer. She founded the Center for Health and Community at University of California, San Francisco, because of her keen understanding that a multi-disciplinary approach is needed to address today’s complex health problems. She knows that modern health care must address behavioral, environmental, social and cultural factors. Dr. Adler’s important research has expanded our understanding of how the health and well-being of mothers impacts their children’s physical and mental health, social and emotional development, academic achievement, and so much more. We are proud to have supported CHC’s work for nearly two decades, as it works to improve maternal and children’s health, and achieve greater health equity. We are also proud that Dr. Adler recently was recognized with the Michael McGinnis Leadership Excellence Award by the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Sciences.
The inimitable Martha Ryan, who founded and directs the Homeless Prenatal Program, is another such visionary. Under her leadership, HPP’s team supported more than 3,000 expecting homeless mothers this year. Together, with partners like the Solid Start Program at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, also an LSPFF grantee, HPP ensured that more than 90 percent of participating mothers delivered healthy babies at a normal weight and free from drugs. Core to HPP’s success is its Community Health Worker program, a 16-month apprenticeship, which prepares former HPP clients and other women from the community for careers advancing health equity.
I was grateful to have had the opportunity via Zoom this year to introduce my children, including my youngest son Sam, who serves as Treasurer of the LSP Family Foundation, to two important women leaders: Dr. Dayna Long, Director for Community Health and Engagement at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, and Dr. Nicki Bush, Distinguished Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Health at UCSF. Dr. Long and her team work to eliminate inequities that lead to poor health, financial and educational outcomes for young children and families at both the individual and population levels. We look forward to becoming more involved in one of their new initiatives, the Black Baby Equity project, which will provide holistic support and interventions to advance the health and wellness of expecting mothers and their children. Dr. Bush examines the psycho-social effects on maternal and child mental and physical health, as well as the intergenerational transmission of risk and factors that promote resilience. Her work focuses on identifying points of prevention of disease, and protective factors and interventions that promote resilience, with special attention to vulnerable populations and the unique interplay between maternal-child health.
For decades, we have known that poor families, and women and children of color disproportionately suffer from health disparities, toxic stress and trauma. Now, because of “SHEROES” like Dr. Nancy Adler, Martha Ryan, Dr. Dayna Long and Dr. Nicki Bush, we are DOING something about it.
Though Mother’s Day 2021 won’t feel like it did pre-pandemic, my greatest wish is that we might enjoy some previous rituals and traditions (breakfast served in bed or a homemade card?!) but most of all that we look forward with optimism, and build toward a brighter future for ALL children and families. At LSPFF, we celebrate the incredible resilience of mothers everywhere, and re-commit ourselves to helping ensure ALL mothers enjoy greater health, equity, and prosperity. Happy Mother’s Day!
