Labor of Love: Supporting Maternal Well-Being in a Complex World (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)

Kntrice Anadumaka has a powerful story of surviving COVID-19 while pregnant when she was not vaccinated early in the pandemic. In this episode, Kntrice shares about her experience with COVID-19 and vaccinations, as well as her fears and concerns of navigating the health system as a woman of color.

Jennifer Gaines became pregnant with her second child early in the pandemic when vaccines were first becoming available. Jennifer is a Certified Nurse Midwife and shares how she made the decision to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Ankita Rao was initially hesitant to get vaccinated while pregnant early in the pandemic. Ankita is the Editor at the Guardian US and discusses her experience of gathering credible information and guidance surrounding vaccination while pregnant. Ankita also shares misinformation she hears as a reporter within online communities around vaccination.

Our last episode features an important conversation with Katie Pederson about her experience surviving COVID-19 while pregnant and the effect it has had on her mental health. We will then be joined by Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, a board-certified psychiatrist and author specializing in women’s mental health and founder and CEO of Gemma.

Paige Dempsey is a single mother who got pregnant by undergoing IVF. During her pregnancy, Paige contracted COVID-19. This week, Paige shares her motherhood journey with COVID-19 and how she decided to receive a COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant.

Obstetric care professionals take on tremendous responsibility when working with pregnant patients, and that work can weigh heavily on their own mental health, especially during a pandemic. ACOG President Iffath Abbasi Hoskins, MD, FACOG, and Pooja Lakshmin, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist, author, and founder and CEO of Gemma, join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to discuss multifaceted answers to mental health challenges for obstetric care professionals, such as burnout and work-life balance. The conversation provides valuable insights and helpful recommendations for how to promote personal mental health.

In its upcoming second season, Stories from the Heart of Obstetric Care, the podcast will shift from focusing on the pandemic experience of new mothers to the pandemic experience of obstetric care professionals. This time, Dr. Pimentel will sit down with obstetrics colleagues to share stories and perspectives gained from working with patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This season’s episodes will provide a space for obstetric care professionals to peel back the layers of their work and share their challenges and triumphs in promoting public health during a pandemic.

As COVID-19 continues to circulate, encouraging pregnant patients to get vaccinated remains important. Labor of Love guests Peg Boyd, DNP, CNM, who practices at OB/GYN Associates of Erie, and Ashanda Saint Jean, MD, FACOG, obstetrics and gynecology department chair at HealthAlliance Hospital, join host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to share how they answer patients’ questions about vaccines and effectively build vaccine confidence. They also delve into the challenges that obstetric care professionals face when working with patients who are reluctant to get vaccinated and offer practical advice about how to handle these discussions with sensitivity and compassion.

Rising misinformation and vaccine skepticism triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic have created unique challenges for obstetric care professionals to gain patient trust. In this episode, Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, discusses strategies to build connection and trust with patients and deliver better pregnancy care with guests Camille Clare, MD, MPH, CPE, FACOG, chair and tenured professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Downstate Health Sciences University, and Kristin Lyerly, MD, MPH, FACOG, a board-certified obstetrician–gynecologist at CCM Health.

The COVID-19 pandemic drew attention to the ongoing crisis of health inequity, which continues today, especially among pregnant people in the Black community. Naima Joseph, MD, MPH, FACOG, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and Christina Marea, MA, MSN, CNM, PhD, assistant professor at Georgetown University School of Nursing and midwife at Community of Hope, join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to discuss how health inequity has affected systematically disadvantaged communities throughout the United States and how these disparities can be addressed head-on by obstetric care professionals and the healthcare industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the obstetric care workforce to its limit, creating unprecedented pressures on health care professionals’ mental health. Rachael F. Morris, MD, MS, FACOG, associate professor of maternal–fetal medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and Richard H. Beigi, MD, MS, FACOG, president of UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to discuss how the pandemic continues to affect the obstetric care workforce and what workplace initiatives have been effective to expand capacity and build better working conditions in obstetric care.

The new maternal RSV vaccine serves as a major step toward preventing RSV in infants after birth. However, the vaccine’s rollout has come with challenges, including cost and access issues. Brenna Hughes, MD, MSc, FACOG, from Duke University, and Naima Joseph, MD, MPH, FACOG, from Boston Medical Center, join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to discuss the latest recommendations for RSV maternal vaccination and share advice on how clinicians can counsel patients on making the best choice for themselves and their families.

In the early 2000s syphilis rates in the United States started to increase, raising growing concerns about public health and the effects of syphilis rates on pregnant people. Kate Miele, MD, MA, FACOG, from Emory University, and Veronica Gillispie-Bell, MD, MAS, FACOG, from Ochsner Health Center, join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to discuss syphilis screening during pregnancy, the latest clinical recommendations, and tips and tools that health care professionals can use to address concerns and anxieties with clarity and compassion.

Hepatitis during pregnancy might feel like a complex case to manage, and ACOG wants to help clinicians support patients with a hepatitis diagnosis. Tatyana Kushner, MD, MSCE, from Mount Sinai and Tosin Goje, MD, MSCR, FACOG, from Cleveland Clinic join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to shine a light on hepatitis B and C, the two most common forms. They discuss the latest screening recommendations, treatment options, and resources that empower pregnant patients to make informed choices. 

During the past year, there have been new developments to guidelines for vaccination in pregnancy—most notably the addition of the maternal RSV vaccine. Yvonne Butler Tobah, MD, FACOG, from the Mayo Clinic and Christopher Watson, MD, MPH, from Ascension Sacred Heart join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to explore the latest clinical recommendations and best practices for counseling pregnant patients and addressing their vaccine-related questions and concerns.

This Labor of Love episode marks the beginning of a two-part exploration into the evolution of HIV care during pregnancy. Haben Debessai, MD, from the CDC Foundation and Rhoda Sperling, MD, FACOG, from Mount Sinai join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to dissect the groundbreaking research that transformed the treatment and discussion of HIV in pregnancy.

Continuing our two-part series, this season’s final episode tackles the present-day strategies for perinatal HIV care. Rodney Wright, MD, FACOG, from Montefiore-Einstein Medical Center and Susan Gillespie, MD, PhD, from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to dive into current HIV testing, treatment, and lactating guidelines to support health during pregnancy and postpartum.

Congenital syphilis is on the rise, making early detection and treatment more critical than ever. This episode equips obstetric care professionals with guidance on implementing syphilis screening, the latest updates on at-home testing, and managing infants with syphilis exposure. The conversation also explores how to collaborate with public health departments for improved syphilis diagnosis and data insights and best practices for working with the neonatal intensive care unit to manage congenital syphilis cases. Kimberly Stanford, MD, MPH, associate professor at the University of Chicago and director of HIV and sexually transmitted infection screening at the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, and Ina Park, MD, MS, professor in the departments of family and community medicine and obstetrics and gynecology at UCSF School of Medicine and medical consultant with the CDC Division of STD Prevention, join Labor of Love host Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, to discuss best practices for implementing syphilis screening.

Special commentary provided by Victoria Mobley, MD, MPH, at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health, and Christopher Golden, MD, FAAP, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Season 4 of ACOG’s Labor of Love podcast is here on Thursday, April 10. Join Veronica Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG, a practicing ob-gyn, vaccine expert, and pandemic mom, as she leads conversations with experts on today’s most critical pregnancy and postpartum topics.