March of Dimes & Cambridge Savings Bank

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to Food for Thought withBilly and Jenny, brought to you by
the Box Center. For more thanfifteen years, this dining duo has been
eating their way through New England,mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restaurantsand giving you the inside scoop on where
to wine, dine and spend yourtime. So get ready, it's Food
for Thought giving you something to chewon. Hi, everybody, welcome into

(00:22):
Food for Thought. Billy Costa hereand we have a studio filled with really,
really cool and impressive people this week. First and foremost, we're going
to be talking mostly about the Marchof Dimes and the incredible work they're doing
and the new initiatives that the Marchof Dimes have going on as we speak.
We're also going to include cambridg SavingsBank, my friends from Cambridge Savings

(00:45):
Bank, as well as Crystal Haynes. Good to see you, Crystal,
Thank you glad to be here.So Crystal, I know the March for
Babies is coming up next weekend andyou are an ambassador family. Okay,
so we want to talk about thatand Chloe year with the March of Dimes.
So we'll be addressing the March ofDimes. Awesome, the history of
the March of Dimes. And KimStrout, you're with Cambridge Savings Bank.

(01:08):
I am, how's banking going?Okay? Now, banking's going pretty okay
for CSP. Yeah. Why couldn'tthey cut the damn interest rates the other
day? Comment? But yes,I hear you there. Okay, let's
start with you, Chloe. Whatis your title with the March of Dimes.
It's a very long title, butI am the Massachusetts Director of Maternal

(01:32):
and Infant Health Initiatives for March ofDimes. Okay, aj the producer,
you will edit that for the Westcoast because it's a long title. No,
I'm kidding, just kidding. Howlong have you been with the March
of Just over three years? Andwhen did it start? And how?
Because March of Dimes has been thereforever, forever and ever. So we're
eighty six years old this year.So we were founded back in the nineteen

(01:57):
thirties by FDR actually, and backthen we were called the National Foundation for
Infantile Paralysis. March of Dimes isa little bit of a snappier name,
but back then we were focused onraising funds for the polio vaccine and leading
the polio vaccine campaigns. And nowwe're leading the fight for the health of
all moms and babies. And that'sthrough research, through advocacy, programming,

(02:21):
education, you name it, we'redoing it. What brought you to the
March of Dimes? Ah, greatquestion. I've been interested in maternal and
reproductive health since I remember learning aboutit back as a teenager, and I
went to graduate school for my master'sin public health, and I just knew

(02:42):
that was the population I wanted tofocus on. And I found March of
Dimes when I was job hunting andjust got really lucky. And getting this
role lets me do not only thework of helping women, but I get
to do it in my home state. I'm from Massachusetts, and that just
like really drives everything that I do. And in a couple of sentences,

(03:06):
what is it about March of Dimesthat's allowed the longevity that it's had.
I mean, FDR started it,okay, and March of Dimes not only
still doing it, but doing morethan ever. Yeah. I think,
uh one, you know, it'sjust always been focused on what the country
as a whole really needs at thattime. And then also it's it's been

(03:30):
really flexible. You know, whenpolio was eradicated, you know, the
foundation could have closed, but insteadthey said, let's do something else.
So in the beginning it was strictlyabout polyon it was it was. And
then when everyone got their vaccines andpolio disappeared from the country and countries across
the world, you know, Marchof Dimes said, okay, what next,

(03:52):
Let's do something else to improve thehealth of babies and children. So
we focused on birth defects, onpre term birth, so when you're born
too early, mom goes into labortoo early. And then in the last
few decades we realized if you wanta healthy baby, you got to start
with the healthy mom. That's reallythe core of everything that we do.

(04:15):
So now we're really focused on improvingmaternal health outcomes. As the new initiative
initiative it is healthy mom, Strongbabies. Exactly Did I get that right?
Yes, you did. Here's thething. Off the air, This
may sound stupid on the air,but off the air, somebody asks you,
so does the polio vaccine still exist? Does it? And how so

(04:42):
it does it? Does it isstill one of the routine vaccines you get
as as a baby and as achild. So you get your measles,
your mom's, your diphtheria and bI mean, all of these routine vaccinations
you get as a child. Poliois still there because polio, while it's
primarily predominantly gone from the US,it still exists in other countries. And

(05:05):
so we just actually had a caseof polio last year in New York from
someone who'd been traveling internationally and heunfortunately suffered from paralysis. That was the
first time in really long time we'veseen polio in the US. Wow.
And you know, vaccination rates fluctuatedepending on where you live for multiple reasons,

(05:30):
but it's still it's still very mucha core part of routine childcare.
I experienced polio as a young child. My cousin Jimmy sadly had polio for
his entire life, and so Iknow what that can be like, not
only for the patient but for thefamily. But yeah, it's an amazing

(05:50):
thing you folks are doing. AndCambridge Savings Bank him, how did you
get involved with March of Dimes inwhy as a bank? That's a great
question, And so we actually uloadedwith Crystal pretty well. So Cambridge Savings

(06:10):
Bank is really dedicated to the communityoverall. In what's kind of really special
about what CSB does is we weinvest in our own employees and encourage our
own employees to get out there andparticipate in things that we care about,
find organizations that we have a connectionto and support those so we back.
Oh gosh, I don't know.Late last year, maybe we had an

(06:32):
event held at Cambridge Savings Bank's operationalcenter in Waltham, and it brought together
a whole bunch of nonprofits nonprofits fromaround the community and I attended as a
CSB employee. I attended the event, had no real expectation of what I
was looking to get out of theevent, but wanted to network mingle with

(06:53):
some different nonprofit organizations. Okay,so that's where it started started. Because
we do have to go to abreak, we'll pick up that. In
fact, there's a beautiful video therewatching the other day that includes all of
you, including you Crystal and yourstory as being the Ambassador family. So
we'll take a break, we playthe video, we'll talk more about March

(07:15):
of Dimes, more about the connectionwith Cambridge Sameings Bank, and we'll have
Crystal talk about her story, whichis going to blow your mind. We'll
play the video and we'll have moreconversation. It's Food for Thought. We'll
do that right after the break.You're listening to Food for Thought, brought
to you by the Box Center andSale and Waterfront Hotel and sweets. Hey,

(07:36):
everybody, welcome back. It isFood for Thought. And again,
when Jenny and I started this show, I guess it's I don't know,
aj you're the producer four years nowwith Food for Thought, possibly five years,
but then again, who's counting.When we started, it was primarily
about food and restaurants and celebrating restaurantsand chefs and the hard work they do.

(07:58):
And then we thought, hey,if the title is food for Thought,
we could talk about wellness, wecould talk about lifestyle, we can
talk about important fundraising. And youknow why, because all of it is
when you think of it, foodfor thought, you get it. Yeah,
and I got it. So I'vegot a great group of women here
today. I've got Chloe from theMarch of Dimes. I've got Kim Strout

(08:20):
from Cambridge Savings Bank connected to theMarch of Dimes helping them with what they
do. And Crystal Haynes is herefrom She is the ambassador family for a
great event that's going to be happeningnext weekend called March for Babies because one
of the new initiatives is Healthy Moms, Strong Babies and a Crystal We work
together at WGBH and I didn't evenknow it. Yeah, that's right.

(08:43):
Yeah, I work on Greater Bostonand Basic Black. I host those shows
along with a couple of other folks. I love it over there. There
were so many smart and intelligent andcreative people at w GBA's some great shows,
so absolutely, and I love HighSchool Quiz Show. Come on now,
I know sadly I left. Iwant to go back. I think

(09:03):
it's but thirteen years. Yeah,I did High School Quizo and by the
way, that's on Sunday nights onWGBH. So I saw a video.
I'll throw a name out. JohnnyB was kind enough to send me a
video that features all three of youwomen, and he cautioned me before he
even sent me the video. Hesays, trust me when I tell you

(09:24):
you're going to get all emotional.This is a great video and it really
really makes the message very clear.So you know what, let's play the
video. When my son was firstborn, my husband looked at me and
he said, I just want tolet you know he was born with something
on his leg. We don't knowwhat it means, but I want to

(09:45):
just prepare you. I took alook at his leg, which had a
what is called a giant congenial melanisiticnebus. He did have to have three
surgeries before the age of one,and the removed this nebus in stages.
It is incredible how he has healedfrom it. Cambridge Saving Spain held an

(10:09):
amazing event where we essentially had abunch of nonprofit organizations come to the bank,
and for some reason, my eyesjust immediately went to March of Dimes.
I was not anticipating the emotion thatI started to feel, just hearing
all of the work that they dofor women and mothers and babies and families.

(10:30):
Sitting down at that table that daywith March of Dimes, I had
never really acknowledged my own experience.They heard me and they listened, and
it's probably the first time that Ifelt like I could talk about it.

(10:50):
So March of Dimes is an eightysix year old nonprofit organization. We were
founded back in the nineteen thirties byPresident Franklin Delano Roosevelt to raise funds for
the polio vaccine, sort of theOG grassroots crowdfunding campaign, And so once
polio was eradicated, we actually gotto go and do something else and shift

(11:11):
our mission towards another initiative. Sosince then we have focused on birth defects,
pre term birth, and now we'rereally focused over archingly on this broader
maternal and ethan health crisis that we'rein right now. At twenty seven weeks,
the unthinkable happened. I had tobe rushed to the hospital after a
major bleed, thinking I was miscarryingmy son, and while my husband stood

(11:35):
in the driveway barefoot because they couldn'tgo into the ambulance with us, the
paramedic inside said something that was shockingto me. Asked me what country I
was from and if the man standingin my driveway was my employer. And
while I was fighting to save myson and possibly my life, I had
to experience racism right there inside anambulance, and it was terrifying and it

(11:58):
was shocked looking at one of themost vulnerable times of my life. I
was prepared to protect my son withmy body. What I wasn't prepared for
was to fight for my ability tobe treated as a human being in a
space where I was meant to feelsafe. March of Dimes can stand in
the gap for women who do nothave the resources, or the language or

(12:22):
the voice to protect themselves and buyextension their babies. March for Babies obviously,
our largest goal is to continue toraise funds for March of Dimes's work,
and our work spans a huge rangeof categories, but it falls within
a few different buckets, research,advocacy, and programming. Cambridge Savings Bank
is really dedicated to the community.But what's also so special is their dedication

(12:46):
to employees and advocating for employees toget out there and advocate for things that
we care about. And this mission, the March of Dimes mission and March
for Babies is so special to me. To feel supported by my company is
really really special. On May eleventh, we will be at the Hatshell on

(13:09):
the Esplanade in Boston and we areso excited to have this year's March for
Babies to make a donation or joinan event near you. You can go
to Marchfbabies dot org. Okay,I don't even know where to start.
First, Kim, you were firstin the video. Was indeed, boy,

(13:30):
what an experience you two children duringthe pandemic. That is true.
I had my first son, Mason, in May twenty twenty and then I
follow that up with my second son, Maddox, who I had in October
twenty twenty one. So I nowhave a two and a half year old
and Mason will actually be turning incrediblyfour on May thirteenth of this year.

(13:54):
So it's really special too, justbecause the March for Babies is taking place
on May eleventh, Mother's Day ison May twelfth, and my firstborn baby's
fourth birthday is on May thirteenth.How incredible did that line up there?
Absolutely? Yeah, it's going tobe a really special special weekend. Okay,

(14:16):
But I got to know, soMarch for Babies, the date of
the March for mealail element. Well, I guess every year the March for
Babies happened the day before Mother's Day, and what better time to celebrate the
health and uh of the health ofbabies and the health of moms who bring
them into this world. And Igot to tell you again, I was

(14:37):
impressed that you got through your interviewfor the video because I was welling up.
You know, I cry every time. These are some really special people
at March of Dimes. Honestly,when I first met the team at March
of Dimes, it was very unexpected. I had not talked about my experience
with Mason until I sat down atthat table, and I really never brought

(15:01):
it up anywhere. And they justhad this sense of comfort and sense of
understanding and wanting to understand where Iwas coming from, and just a love
that And I could cry talking aboutit now that I felt from them,
and that moment was really special,and I knew I wanted to be I
want I wanted to be part ofit. So, having delivered two babies

(15:22):
during a pandemic, with all ofthe issues you didn't see coming down the
pipe, what was it like goingback to work? Oh man, you
know, it's a whole different worldtrying to get two children toddlers now up
and out the door to daycare,along with getting yourself ready. So I
have, you know, learned awhole lot different hacks about how to get

(15:45):
myself prepared and ready for work beforeI get them ready. So it's a
different world. But I'm very luckyto have two happy, healthy little babies
and now a marriage between Cambridge SavingsBank and Margie Yes. So Cambridge Savings
Bank is a pro sponsor of Marchfor Babies, which is the event coming
up on May eleventh. The Marchfor Babies event is an annual walk and

(16:08):
what is so cool about it isa family day, family style event.
There will be activities, face painting, and music and something really cool that
we call the Superhero Sprint, andthat is where all the children who have
graduated from Nick You Care and arenow thriving, they put on their superhero

(16:30):
capes and they race down the downs. Is pretty incredible to see these babies
who have in their families have reallybeen so resilient and made it through and
have come out on the other sideand are able to showcase their strength.
And that's a really emotional moment.So I'm exciting about it too. You
know, all moms or families listening, now, what a great way to

(16:53):
get out and celebrate Mother's Day.Absolutely absolutely out there in the fresh air,
games going on and families getting together. The one thing also that I
want to add is there's a spotat the event. There's a tent called
the Honor Tent, and that isfor the families whose mothers or babies did
not make it out of the hospital. Oh my. We created that space

(17:15):
based on fall into your feedback that, Hey, we need to make sure
all families feel welcome here, nomatter what their outcome was. So we
have a little wall that folks canwrite the names of their loved ones on
a butterfly pinning up on the walland get a packet of wildflower seeds to
take home with them to plants intheir own gardens. So everybody is welcome
at this event. And we're goingto repeat all the information people need to

(17:37):
know about the March for Babies goingon next weekend. But we do have
to take a break. And onthe other side, Crystal, I was
so moved by your story in thevideo and now we have a chance to
talk about it. Yeah, sowe'll do that right after the break.
This is Food for Thought. You'relistening to Food for Thought brought to you
by the Box Center and Sailing WaterfrontHotel and swees. Hey, everybody Welcome

(18:07):
back to Food for Thought. BillyCosta here once again. We've got Chloe
here from the March of Dimes.We've got Kim here from Cambridge Savings Bank,
and we've got Crystal Haynes here fromWGBH as well as you're at the
United Way, Christian. Now,what's your role there. I'm a senior
communications director there. I just startedin February. Okay, so so far
we got a couple of shows onWGBA. Yes, senior communications director,

(18:33):
United Way, and i teach atNortheastern and I'm on the board for the
March of Dimes. I'm busy.I have a lot of passions. Ye.
Well, usually that's the resume,but what also is saying is what's
going on right now? It's notthings she's done. She's doing Wow.

(18:55):
Yeah. The semesters just wrapped upin Northeastern, so I've got a bit
of free time, so I mightpaint my house. No, just and
your role at the United Way giveme the average day, what would it
be like? I mean, so, we have a great team there and
you know, our lenses is economicjustice and so we support our partner organizations

(19:18):
and we are That allows me timeto be able to really elevate their causes
and so working towards economic justice acrossthe Commonwealth. And you know, really
the Eastern Seaboard is really the focusof the United Way. And so a
typical day is like, maybe I'mwriting a press release, Maybe I'm creating
a strategic communications plan. Maybe I'melevating like our Giving Project, which happens

(19:41):
every single year around in November,and talking about what that looks like.
Maybe I'm talking about our Shared Servicesprogram, which funds at home daycare providers
and license them and so that wehave more access to daycare. And maybe
it's about our safety and shelter systemand really educating folks around the benefit of

(20:02):
new arrivals and what they can dofor the economy in Massachusetts. What are
you teaching at Northeastern Journalism and MediaStudies specifically, like this toolbox class where
we do a really a primer onlike editing, writing, interviewing, all
those kinds of things. Yeah,got your hands full? Yeah, how
are you kids? One one?Just James will be three in June.

(20:23):
Actually, yeah, speaking of which, I want to go there because well,
obviously you're with the March of Dimes, with the United Way. You
were in the video. You havean incredible story to tell, which was
shocking the first time I heard it. And we'll get there. We'll cover
that, and we'll talk more aboutthe March for Babies which is coming up.
And I want to get the latestinterest rates over Cambridge Savings Bank.

(20:48):
But we'll take a break. It'sFood for Thought. I'm Billy Costa,
will be right back. You're listeningto Food for Thought, brought to you
by the Box Center and Salem WaterfrontHotel and sweets. Hi. Everybody,
welcome back to Food for Thought.Billy Costa here and I don't know about
you folks listening, but I'm learninga lot and this is a feel good
episode of Food for Thought. We'vegot Chloe here from March of Dimes.

(21:11):
We're a week away from the Marchfor Babies, which is an incredible event.
We'll get back to that in acouple of minutes. And Kim Stroud
is here from cambridg Savings Bank andthere's like a marriage between Cambridge Savings Bank
and the March of Dimes and theCrystal Haines is here. And if you
were listening earlier, we ran avideo which was all about the March of

(21:32):
Dimes and what it means to certainpeople in certain families. And Crystal is
here not only because she's one ofthe premier journalists and television hosts and teachers
in the region, but you hadan experience that you talked about in the
video that just I got the chills. So, first, where did it

(21:53):
begin and how sure? So Iwas twenty seven weeks and I had a
bleed at home, which later wasdiagnosis a complete plessent to previa. And
when I was bleeding over a pintin my home, the ambulance EMTs came.
One of them happened to be awhite woman. She asked me what

(22:15):
country I was from and if myemployer, who she pointed to and I
looked over, was my husband,who was barefoot in the driveway. He
could not come with us in theambulance to the hospital because it was COVID.
Because I was going to ask,yeah, this was in May.
This was in This was in Mayof twenty twenty one, so there were
strict rules about who could be inthe ambulance, and so he had to

(22:37):
follow off. And she asked me, is that your employer? And will
will you can't. Will he contactthe family for you? And I said,
this is my home, that's myhusband, and I'd like to keep
this conversation conversation strictly to medical questions. And so I had to have the
presence of mind to like turn aswitch on and and and protect, to

(22:57):
protect myself and those moments. Andit didn't end there. When I was
in labor and delivery, because theydid not know if they would have to
deliver my son in twenty seven weeks, they give you these medications to strengthen
the baby's lungs, and it mademe nauseous. And so one of the
other nurses, who happened to alsobe a white woman, ripped open an
alcohol wipe and said, this isour ghetto way of treatment. Sorry,

(23:22):
this is our ghetto anti nausea treatment. You know what I'm talking about.
And at this time, my husband, my husband was sitting next to me,
and he looked at me and wewere like, did she say what
she was gonna say? And didshe say that? And she said it
again? And so uh was it? Did she just said it casually?

(23:45):
No one bad it than I.However, some of the attending doctors sort
of turned around and looked at meand said, we're going to ask her
to leave, which was yeah,which was great in that moment because I
was just focusing not vomiting. Iwas still bleeding profusely at the time,
and I wasn't trying to teach this, you know, give this woman an

(24:07):
anti racist conversation, you know,at the moment. But I realize in
that moment, it doesn't matter whoyou are in a certain medical setting and
you are the most vulnerable position,and you could be a resourced woman or
you can be an underresourced woman,and it does not matter. Racism can
find you anywhere, and it canput you in danger. Had a doctor

(24:30):
not advocated for me in that space, my treatment plan could have been altered.
In places where there is less trainingand implicit bias, women have died.
We know that black and brown womenare three to four times more likely
to die due to complications and pregnancyand childbirth, and the CDC, the
NIH have all said that racism playsa major factor in that. And I

(24:53):
did not expect to walk into thatexperience and have to deal with that and
have to turn on certainly the languageand yeah, and the thought process and
how to protect myself in that way. That's why I say in the video
I protect. I was completely preparedto protect my son with my body.
However I could, eating healthy,taking my vitamins, making sure I had

(25:15):
the best care possible in the prenatalstage. I did not prepare myself to
have to be fight for my abilityto be treated as a human being.
And in that moment I had todo that. I had to use all
of all of my resources and thinkabout how do I make sure that I'm
being treated and receiving the care thatI deserve. It's like as big as

(25:37):
that moment was, Yeah, itwasn't the time. It was absolutely not
the time, and it never is. It doesn't matter if I came in
there with a hangnail or if Iwere having an active miscarriage. It does
not matter what a woman walks in, or a woman of color, or
anyone walks into a medical care space. It does not matter what their ethnic

(25:57):
background should be. Need to betreating that person for what they come in
for. And I think we hearexamples of this. Serena Williams experience racism
in her pregnancy and childbirth. Yeah, and I think I think the America
started to wake up a little bit. There was an amazing Time article that

(26:18):
happened, I want to say severalyears ago, maybe five years ago,
where a woman worked at the CBCand died due to negligence. I've interviewed
women who have gone home and complainedof symptoms and their doctors dismissed them because
there's an implicit bias around black andbrown women being more resilient or having a
higher pain tolerance, or even especiallyin the Latin LATINX community, like Latin

(26:44):
American women are hysterical, and sowe're seen as complainers, and so then
your symptoms are dismissed in these medicalspaces. And so I think that's what
activated me around the March of Dimespecifically, I got to ask you,
he's great. He did spend twentyone days in the nic you he was
born early, but he's doing well. All right. We got to take

(27:07):
a break. It's food for thought. I told you at the top of
the show this was going to bea great episode. Did I not a
lot of information being exchanged, andwe've got even more coming up, but
we do have to take a break. It's food for thought. I'm Billy
Costa. We'll be right back.You're listening to Food for Thought, brought
to you by the Box Center andSalem Waterfront Hotel in sweetes Hey. Everybody,

(27:29):
welcome back to Food for Thought.Billy Costa here And before the break,
we were talking to Kristin Haynes CrystalHanes about her experience at the hospital,
and if you were listening to thevideo, well you kind of heard
the story. It was really prettyshocking. And Christal, I've got to
ask you, given your experience inthe hospital that day with a certain individual,

(27:52):
have you had any interaction at allwith that person or the hospital since
know you were released? And yeah, I actually I actually have. It
was at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. And I can say that name because
one of the attendants that was onmy service at the time, she actually

(28:12):
was part of the maternal fetal department. I think she's now the head of
it. And I was able tothen go back and share my story during
grand rounds and for them to worktoward being better in terms of implicit bias.
But the nurse who made the commentabout the ghetto anti nausea treatment,
I was in anti natal you know, being constantly monitored until I was about

(28:34):
thirty five weeks and that nurse rotatedonto my service. I think it wasn't,
you know, for whatever reasons thatI don't know. This was down
the road. I spent forty fivedays in the hospital after that large bleed
that happened at home, forty fiveto fifty days, including when I delivered

(28:56):
my son via C section, andshe rotated onto my service and she could
palledogize to me. And it wasactually a really vulnerable experience because I was
in a room hooked up to monitorsand things. And she said, she
apologized, and she she told methat she wasn't it wasn't a racist comment,
that her husband was Latin American,so she couldn't make those racist comments

(29:17):
and didn't wouldn't attend it that way. And then afterward she asked me if
I forgave her and asked me fora hug, to which I said to
her, I'm not in a positionto teach you why everything you said was
wrong in this conversation, but I'mgoing to ask you to leave my room
and leave my service, and shedid, and uh, you know,
I will say that when I walkedinto the experience of being pregnant. I

(29:40):
was very intentional. I had ablack obgu I n who's amazing. I
had a black IVF doctor who's alsoamazing that that gave me my son.
So I walked into it prepared andthinking. I was prepared to get the
right care. And I will saythat there were people at the Brigham that
were responsive to what happened and didstep in to do the thing. But

(30:00):
you know, in that moment thatnone of that made a difference to me
where I felt like I had tothen put on my you know, anti
racist DEI lens and hat and teachsomeone so well. As negative as it
was, yeah, maybe down theroad it served as a positive because it
became an educating thing for everybody else, Oh my God, immensely. And

(30:22):
it gave me what one thing thatit did was activate me. You know,
when I gave birth to my sonvia c section and I heard him
cry for the first time, thatwas my fight song. His cry that
sound in the c section room,in the operating room. Because I wanted
to make sure that every woman whowanted to have a baby safely could do

(30:44):
that, and I started seeking outspaces where I could do that and I
was at a mixer for the Marchof Dimes as just a journalist when I
was working at Boston twenty five,and I started engaging everyone in the room
and I was like, how manymembers of color do you have on your
board? And what are you doingfor this? And what are you doing
for that? And then they calledme up and asked me if I wanted
to be on the March of Dimesboard and I was like absolutely, and
here you are here, I am, wow, here I am. Yeah,

(31:07):
what a great story. On alighter note, Crystal, if you
don't mind my asking, let's doit. Did your husband ever manage to
put his shoes? He did?He did, he did, he got
dressed, he came down to thehospital and yeah, he was guessing.
It was a nice, comfortable parvery comfortable. I spent some time there.
Yes, yes, that's a goodlyglad we heared that out. And

(31:30):
there were a lot of doctors andnurses who are so excellent that in that
space. And so I think thatthat's why sometimes people are hesitant to tell
their stories because they're like that onenurse was bad, but I had ten
fifteen nurses who are extraordinary, right, Okay, yeah, yeah, Chloe.
March of Dimes, you know,Strong Mothers, Strong Kids, Healthy

(31:52):
moms, Strong Kids, is Iknow, one of the big initiatives now
from March of Dimes, which leadsus the next weekend and we'll talk more
about the March for Babies. Whatelse are you excited about down the road
from March of Dimes. Oh,my goodness, so many different things.
Yesterday we actually launched a new nationalcampaign all about low dose aspirin to prevent
preeclampsia, which is one of themany but one of the most common complications

(32:15):
that you can get when you're pregnant, which was just yesterday, yesterday.
That's breaking news. Yeah, yeahnews. I guess when this airs it'll
be it'll been a week, okay. But so that's all about preventing preclamsia.
That's really focused on maternal health.That's really shifting our focus to the

(32:37):
mom instead of the baby. Wellnot instead of the baby, but you
know, really recognizing, you know, healthy mom, strong baby. We
do in Massachusetts a lot of workin the mental health space as well.
Mental health diagnoses are the leading causeof maternal mortality in the country, but
also in Massachusetts. Y'all might haveseen last year a couple of headline in

(33:00):
Massachusetts about families that experience losses dueto mental health concerns. They were really,
really sad, and they really activatednot just our community, but all
of the public health communities across thecountry. The state legislature is paying a
lot of attention to it now aswell. So we have a few bills

(33:21):
in the Massachusetts legislature we're pushing withdozens of organizations and partners across the state.
One notably the Mom's Matter Act,which I have a really good feeling
about passing this year to create newfunding opportunities to grow the workforce. There's
not a huge workforce in perinatal mentalhealth. It's a very specific kind of

(33:43):
mental health complication when you're pregnant orpost part of compared to other times in
your life and else. That's exactly, And all the shifting hormones and chemical
changes internally too, I mean,it's it's crazy. It's really crazy what
happens in terns when you're pregnant andafter you give birth, it takes a
while you get back to yourself absolutely, So you know, we're we're doing

(34:07):
a lot of work in that spaceto make sure moms are taken care of
from both a physical and mental healthperspective. Is fundraising still the big challenge?
Fundraising is always a challenge there.There's a conversation to be had,
a much bigger conversation about maternal healthand women's health at large and the underinvestment

(34:28):
historically that there's been there compared toother areas of health research. Crystal actually
interviewed me a few months back forGBH and cited some really interesting statistics about
research that had happened in other areasof health compared to maternal health and the
fraction of funding and investment that maternaland women's health had gotten. And I

(34:49):
think we see that when we're whenwe're looking at the maternal health crisis we
have right now. If I wereto give birth today, I would be
statistically twice as likely to die inchildbirth or part of complications that it would
be than my own mother just onegeneration ago. That's how much the data
has changed in one generation that tome stops me in my tracks that I'm
twice as likely to die, andit's even worse for communities of color.

(35:15):
And when you compare it to otherbirth outcomes around the world. The United
States is nowhere near the top.No, we're at the very very bottom.
We we don't care enough. Wedon't know baby. Yeah, that's
what it is. We put moneyinto viagra. We put more money into
men's health than we do to women'shealth. And that's the truth. We

(35:37):
do. The very interesting fun fact, other than the covid vaccine, the
only vaccine to ever come to marketas fast as the covid vaccine, or
nearly close enough, was the mumpsvaccine. And that's because it can cause
sterility. It can make men's sterile. There is a men's health component to

(36:00):
that. That's why the investment wasthere. Women's health has not gotten that
investment. It's so misunderstood too.The whole life span up through menopause,
sor We're talking about a lot ofdifferent topics here. Change this. We
talk, we talk about it.We we take these conversations out of the

(36:22):
taboo nature they've been in forever andever. And to that point, you
know, not to cut you off, Chloya, You're good. I was
thinking about how Kim was so emotionalwhen she could share the story about her
about her son like that, shouldn'tbe the case. We should be able
to have open conversations about our childbirthexperience about yeah, exactly like and not

(36:44):
feel emotional that you you're granted thespace to talk about what's happened to you
because this is the reality. Withoutmoms, there will be no families,
and we need to realize that untilwe continue to invest. We need to
invest to the health. Right,that's the reality. We have to and

(37:05):
healthy moms so that we can havestrong babies, we can have strong families.
And that's the reality of it.All right, Well, hold that
thought. The good news is thisteam of three sitting here in the studio.
I think you're going to get everythingdone that needs to be done because
you guys are just great. Weare working for that absolutely all right.
We're going to take a break.And by the way, Cambrid Savings Bank,

(37:25):
we need more Cambridge Savings banks outthere, that's what we need.
That is fat. Yes, we'regoing to take a break. When we
come back, we'll tell you everythingyou need to know about the March for
Babies, which is coming up nextweekend. That I mentioned it's Mother's Day
next weekend. I will take abreak. We'll be right back. You're
listening to Food for Thought, broughtto you by the Box Center and Sale

(37:45):
in Waterfront Hotel in Sweets. Hi, everybody, welcome back to Food for
Thought. We only have a fewminutes left, Bois, I can easily
do another hour with this group ofladies. I've got Chloe from the March
of Dimes, Kim from the CambridgeSavings Bank, and Crystal haynes Well from
Everywhere govern a GBA. She's ateacher professor at Northeastern and the United Way.

(38:07):
And what a great, great groupof women. Okay, next week
is it Saturday or Sunday? Itis on Saturday, May eleventh, the
March for Baby, the March forBabies, which is going to take place
in the day before Mother's Day.So what better day to get out there
and celebrate mom, celebrate babies andkind of just have a really nice day.

(38:28):
I'm hoping for good weather. AndKim, who better than you,
Well, you're actually the ambassador ofthem. So I am the twenty twenty
four chair of March for Babies Massachusetts, which is incredibly special to me because
I just last year learned about allthe wonderful things that March of Dimes does,
and when I did learn all ofthe wonderful things, I knew I

(38:52):
wanted to be a part of it. And I'm very fortunate to have Cambridge
Savings Bank be a supporter of mein the things that I passionate about.
Support time supporter. So CSB isa proud sponsor of March for Babies again
Saturday, May eleventh. It's goingto start at nine o'clock. How the
day starts is at the Hatshell,which is right on the Esplanat in Boston,

(39:16):
exactly in the walk itself is onepoint two miles, So we're not
going you know, we're not strollerfriends exactly, So right down the esplanade,
beautiful, beautiful Boston Charles area,and we are going to have activities.
We're gonna have family activities, We'regoing to have face painting, music,

(39:39):
a lot of fun will be hadand and you say stroller friendly,
so I can just have absolutely getMichelle out there. Yeah, absolutely,
And we are in the final stretchfor our fundraising. We have done an
incredible job getting the word out there, fundraising starting that early, but we

(40:00):
have a we have a big goalhere and we're we're getting we're getting there,
but we need everyone who's listening hereto help us out and and visit.
We actually set up a March forBaby's site that is specific to iHeart
here and we want everyone to goand visit marchfobabies dot org slash iHeart and

(40:22):
we want you to sign up tojoin us, to come join the walk
and to donate. These funds aregoing towards all of the things that you
heard about here today, and you, Billy, are going to be joining
us yes on the eleventh as well, which is incredibly exciting. Beautiful weather.
Okay, there we go. Weneed a beautiful day. I think

(40:45):
it's going to be a beautiful day. And again I said it earlier.
This is you know what, families, family, dads. This is a
great for get out together and celebratemom, support each other, the family,
and it's it's Mother's Day weekend forgotwhat better we get to do it
exactly. So, I don't knowif I said this earlier, but Cambridge,
I'm a kid from Cambridge. CambridgeSavings Bank was my very first bank

(41:06):
account. Oh I love that.How it's your service. It was impeccable,
excellent. It still is, bythe way, up to hear Bill.
So Cambrig Savings Bank are going tohave a setup down there, So
we're going to have a team offolks down there, volunteers. We're going
to have a whole bunch of mycoworkers coming to support me as the twenty
twenty fourth chair, which is incredible. I'm very appreciative of that. And

(41:29):
you make deposits and everything right there. Yeah, we'll send you to our
ATM or next branch. Indeed,all right, yeah, it'll be great.
Chloe Kim, thank you so much. This has been great. We
look forward to seeing you next Saturday. We'll be there with bells on as
they said, indeed, but greatto see you ladies. What a great

(41:51):
show that was. We got it. We got to go again. I
could do another hour with this topicand with you ladies, but we got
to go. But the good newsis coming up next sixty minutes