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Nov 30, 2023Liked by Molly Dickens, PhD

The fact that you get that pushback is a reflection of how society really can't focus on the health of anyone that isn't a heteronormative man. There's really no reason to lump women's health and kids' health together; they each truly merit their own investigation and consideration. Yes, there can be a very strong dynamic between certain elements of the two (I often say that kids' health is also a maternal health issue, as I'm a medical needs mom whose mental + physical health was severely compromised) but the fact that we're all fighting for visibility and are being forced into an either/or or everyone together approach essentially reflects a MUCH bigger problem in healthcare equity and research.

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Thank you so much for this, Sehreen. You are really an expert from your own experience and in the work you do. There is certainly a strong dynamic between child health and maternal/caregiver health. Kids' health is 100% a maternal health issue (and why it's on the map 😀).

And I absolutely agree that we should not be forced into an either/or. I want to be mindful of that. The circle between child health and caregiver health is just so lopsided right now (from research to care models). The biggest gaps in this circle are in understanding and considering the health impacts on mothers/caregivers.

So much of the research that I have seen so far (plus the "what about the offspring?" question that maternal mental health researchers face) focus on one side of the dynamic -- how mom's health impacts a child's health. To your point, we don't need to lump them together but if we consider the circle, we have a lot of gap filling when it comes to how a child's health impacts the mother's/caregiver's health.

Excited to go deeper on this with you!

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Thx for this--I relate to this so much! I'm no researcher, but just as a female patient it's been bananas to me how much medical research on women is neglected, including reproductive research. Which, you you know, the species depends on!!

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it really does blow my mind every time I think about it (which, as you can imagine, is often 😅)

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I can imagine!!

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