July 2020

From California Department of Public Health, July 2020 In 2018, recognizing an alarming statewide gap in Black infant mortality, the state Legislature passed the Budget Act of 2018 which included the establishment of the California Perinatal Equity Initiative (PEI) within the Department of Public Health. While declines in infant mortality have been achieved, the statewide mortality rate for Black infants continues to be two to four times higher than rates for other groups. The PEI aims to...

Thomson KC, Romaniuk H, Greenwood CJ, et al. Adolescent antecedents of maternal and paternal perinatal depression: a 36-year prospective cohort [published online ahead of print, 2020 Apr 28]. Psychol Med . 2020;1-8. doi:10.1017/S0033291720000902. Abstract Background: Rates of common mental health problems (depression/anxiety) rise sharply in adolescence and peak in young adulthood, often coinciding with the transition to parenthood. Little is known regarding the persistence of common mental...

By Deekshita Ramanarayan, July 21, 2020, New Security Beat. “The past months have been profoundly difficult for our nation, and for Black communities in particular,” said Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) at a recent March of Dimes event on the impact of structural racism on maternal health. COVID-19 has highlighted health outcome inequity caused by race and racism. Though Black people constitute 13 percent of the U.S. population, the CDC estimates they represent over 30 percent of...

Inspired her work with ACEs, resilience and Walla Walla’s Community Resilience Initiative , documentary-film director Amy L. Erickson created Visceral: transforming trauma though theatre , which has its first screening at the 5 th Annual “Beyond Paper Tigers” conference June 24-25, 2020. The film features a number of Walla Walla residents, including Etiene Vela, a student at Walla Walla Community College (WWCC), whose life is transformed by performing in WWCC productions with Kevin Loomer,...

Photo credit Unsplash.com/🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič (The article below is an excerpt from my book, Crazy Was All I Ever Knew: The Impact of Maternal Mental Illness on Kid s. I have used a pseudonym to protect the privacy of family members.) As a child, I lived in dread that something would set my mother off and she’d fly into a violent rage, unleashing a torrent of physical abuse. There never was any reason for the abuse. There didn’t have to be. Something would invariably infuriate my mother. I...

Hello 4CA friends – Sending a quick update on the state budget. Please add on if you have more/different information – thanks! The short story is that many of the worst cuts that were discussed were NOT enacted in the final budget, which is good news. Some of the items most related to childhood trauma include: The final budget rejects the May Revise proposal to reduce $4.5 million General fund from the Black Infant Health Program . While there will be no cuts to Prop 56 Medi-Cal supplemental...

By News Editor, July 1, 2020, Science Mission. In their search for what triggers the damaging side-effects caused by acute psychological stress, the researchers found an answer by doing a fat check. In the face of psychological stress, an immune system response that can significantly worsen inflammatory responses originates in brown fat cells, the team reports in the journal Cell . Since the hormones associated with stress, cortisol and adrenaline, generally decrease inflammation, it has...

Unbecoming an Armadillo By: Victoria F. Burns, PhD, LSW Victoriafrances49@gmail.com Instagram: @betesandbites “When you are traumatized, you are basically in a permanent defensive mode” — Gabor Mate I’m sitting across from Meg on her charcoal grey love seat. My forearms are resting on a velvety mustard-yellow throw cushion and I’m holding crescent shaped pulsers in each hand. Meg’s my psychologist; a rare gem who specializes in chronic illness and trauma. Every two weeks, we spend an hour...

By May-Ying Lam, The Washington Post, June 30, 2020 For women who are pregnant amid a pandemic, a recession and racial turmoil, the future is an anxiety-stirring unknown. They began their pregnancies in the “other world” that promised baby showers, gender-reveal parties, visits with grandparents and browsing stores for onesies. Now, they contemplate how they would handle a novel coronavirus diagnosis, prepare to give birth while wearing a mask and fight through old traumas that the virus has...