Postpartum complications often emerge after mothers leave the hospital. Sacramento health systems are working to catch warning signs before they become emergencies.

I have a friend who’s a midwife, and whenever our group of female friends from college gets together, we pepper her with questions about pregnancy and childbirth. None of us have done it (yet), so this inevitably turns into a campfire circle of scary stories we’ve heard, with the hope that the midwife will put our fears to rest.

Instead, with a glint in her eye as she explains how even the most privileged and prepared mother-to-be can’t bend the reality of a breech birth or an epidural that doesn’t take. “But it’s beautiful,” she always concludes. “It’s magic.” Meanwhile, we’re all thinking, “Maybe not.”

Until a system is devised where infants emerge from inanimate pods, there will always be some danger and discomfort associated with reproduction. But research and innovation in pregnancy and maternal health lag woefully behind many other areas of medicine. That’s partly because pregnant people have historically been excluded from biomedical research for ethical reasons, but also because of biases and inequities that have limited funding and political pressure for further study.

Sure, it’s much safer to give birth today than it was a couple of centuries ago, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still room for improvement – particularly for Black women, who are three times more likely than white women to die from a pregnancy-related cause.

According to the CDC, 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. This week’s feature is devoted to maternal health and the innovations being implemented in Sacramento-area hospitals to help save lives.

– Dakota Morlan

Other stories you may have missed: Why Sacramento Thinks It Can Land Major League Baseball’s Next Expansion Team

Capital Region officials recently launched a “Sacramento Pitch” campaign aimed at bringing a Major League Baseball expansion franchise to West Sacramento.

Sacramento’s Sausage Scene Is Sizzling. Here’s Where to Find It

Wursts, wieners, frankfurters or hot dogs; whatever you call them, there’s money to be made in sausage in Sacramento.

Only One in Three Employees Trust Their Leaders. That’s a Problem for Every Company

“My dad, a CEO consultant, insists that the most important driver for business success is the trust created, nurtured and reinforced by executive teams. As an HR executive, I believe that the future of work will test that trust more than ever,” writes HR executive Tracie Lorber.

ess success is the trust created, nurtured and reinforced by executive teams. As an HR executive, I believe that the future of work will test that trust more than ever,” writes HR executive Tracie Lorber.

Students Complained About Back Pain. He Built an AI Startup to Solve It

SitSense is a posture coach powered by AI to alert users when they’re slouching in real time. The tool uses your webcam to monitor your sitting position and provide data on how to adjust.

Some recommendations from our editors

Judy: Like thousands of others around the Capital Region, I was at a high school graduation ceremony in early June. For me, it was for my grandson. Friends warned me I might tear up, and I certainly did — not at the sight of him but as soon as the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance,” the famous graduation march, started playing. It brought back memories of my own high school graduation of 88 seniors in my tiny New Jersey town. “Pomp and Circumstance” was actually a series of five marches for an orchestra composed by Edward Elgar between 1901 and 1930, the title taken from Act 3, Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s “Othello.” And yes, I teared up more when I saw my grandson march in to its emotional tune.

Jennifer: It’s heating up in the Capital Region, and one of my methods for cooling down is a soundtrack of coldwave music. Lately I’ve been listening to Boy Harsher, a band from my old neck of the woods in Northampton, Massachusetts, and Molchat Doma, a Russian group inspired by Soviet-era architecture. The latter feels especially appropriate when I walk past some of the Brutalist buildings on the UC Davis campus. 

Odds and ends

Our June issue explores innovations in childbirth, nature-informed architecture, Black miners of the Gold Rush and more. Read it now on your computer, phone or tablet.

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