In this episode of MoMMAs Voices, Emily Taylor speaks with Dr. Christina Davidson and Patient Family Partner, Trashaun Powell about the Patient Safety Toolbox. Created as a collaboration of many perspectives including, physicians, nurses, midwives, and the lived experiences of MoMMAs Voices, the toolbox explains how to incorporate “health equity into all quality and patient safety projects.” Trashaun and Dr. Davidson also discuss how patients should advocate for themselves and use their voices.
“Because I think as the healthcare team, we're just thinking medically-- what do we need to do? And I think this has really opened our eyes and broadened the perspective…” (Dr. Davidson)
“There was a panel of patients with lived experiences, and I always found that to be one of the most impactful components of the entire session.” (Dr. Davidson)
“Using my mom voice was really a natural part of who I became after losing Mia.” (Trashaun P.)
“To be a part of this engagement… It's really powerful. It really, it really is. It's connection, it's resources, it's friendship, it's community.” (Trasuan P.)
About MoMMAs Voices
MoMMAs Voices (Maternal Mortality & Morbidity Advocates) is the first-ever maternal health patient advocates program bringing together real patient and family voices. We're made up of dozens of maternal health organizations who represent all types of maternal health conditions, as well as cross-cutting topics like maternal mental health, racial equity, healthcare delivery, and patient-provider partnership. We sit at the center of maternal health improvements, connecting and training patients with lived experiences, providers, quality improvement leaders, researchers, and policymakers to move forward improvements in maternal care. We are a program of the Preeclampsia Foundation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Emily (00:00):
Hello and welcome to today's episode from MoMMAs
Voices.
My name is Emily Taylor and Iam in charge of engagement and
outreach.
One of the things I enjoy mostabout working for MoMMAs Voices
is our matchmaking process forpairing certified patient family
partners with providers.
Every third podcast, we willtalk about different matchmaking
(00:20):
success stories.
We hope this can give our PFPsmore information about the types
of engagements out there andgive insight to providers and
organizations of how to includepatients with lived experience
into their work.
I'm super pleased to introduceour two guests today.
Trashaun Powell is a maternalhealth advocate and patient
(00:42):
family partner based in NewJersey.
She survived a near deathpregnancy experience related to
the diagnosis of HELLP syndrome,which resulted in the birth and
death of her first child at 23weeks, resulting in a near-miss
liver hemorrhage requiringmultiple blood transfusions,
surgery, and admission to theICU.
(01:04):
Trashaun now shares hercompelling childbirth story of
hope and tragedy to raiseawareness about the need for
education, about the maternalmortality health crisis, and
funding for a cure forpreeclampsia.
She serves as a volunteer withthe Preeclampsia Foundation and
MoMMAs Voices patient advocate.
(01:25):
And now I'm going to let Dr.
Christina Davidson
Dr Davidson (01:29):
introduce herself.
Hi everyone.
I'm Christina Davidson and I'ma maternal fetal medicine
physician in Houston, Texas.
I hold several quality andsafety and health equity roles
and at Baylor, I am theDepartment of OBGYN's Vice Chair
for quality patient safety andhealth equity.
and I have been a part of ourTexas State Perinatal Quality
(01:50):
Collaborative since it startedabout 10 years ago, I was the
one of the co-chairs of the OBcommittee for many years and had
an opportunity to work withMoMMAs Voices a lot within that.
And I'm currently the chair ofthe Society for Maternal Fetal
Medicines Patient Safety andQuality Committee, and have also
had an opportunity to work withMoMMAs Voices through that.
Even within my own hospital wehave a patient advisory
(02:12):
committee and I've had anopportunity to work with
patients with lived experienceson some of our QI projects.
So I'm very excited to be hereand get to share my experiences
in
Emily (02:22):
this realm.
Thank you.
We appreciate it too.
I know that you've donemultiple things for us, so thank
you for your willingness tocontinue to collaborate.
So today we're here to talkabout the Patient Safety Toolbox
course.
Dr.
Davidson, if you don't mind,can you start by telling us what
that exactly is?
Dr Davidson (02:41):
Yeah, sure.
The Patient Safety Toolbox is acourse that comes from the
Society for Maternal FetalMedicines Patient Safety and
Quality Committee, which I'vebeen a member of for about the
last five years.
And now I'm currently the chairof, and this was actually I
think our third.
Toolbox course where, you know,kind of as a, a toolbox, we
would have different courses onhelping hospitals with, you
(03:03):
know, a variety of thingsrelated to patient safety and,
and quality.
So one year we even didsomething on how to implement
the alliance for innovation onmaternal health or AIM patient
safety bundles on hemorrhage andhypertension.
This time last year, we feltthat we wanted to come together.
And put together a toolbox onhow to incorporate health equity
(03:25):
into all quality and patientsafety projects and how to apply
quality and patient safety witha health equity lens.
And so that was and we wantedto do this broadly.
So this is not just a, amaternal fetal medicine issue.
This is an obstetrics issue.
This is an every person whotakes care of a pregnant
patient.
We all need to come togetherand so we had the opportunity to
(03:47):
offer this toolbox course toanyone who wanted to attend.
And we had speakers across alldisciplines of obstetrics.
So we had obstetrics andgynecology physicians, maternal
fetal medicine physicians.
We had nurses, we had midwiveswe had nurse practitioners and
we had MoMMAs voices.
And so the purpose of thistoolbox was to really be able to
(04:10):
equip people with some tools totake back to their institutions
and work in a multidisciplinaryfashion, to identify
disparities in their hospitals,identify the inequities or the
root causes of thosedisparities, and work together
through a health equity lens.
And along with patients and,their lived experiences in terms
of eliminating thesedisparities and the barriers and
(04:31):
inequities.
Emily (04:34):
Thank you so much.
I'm just so impressed with howmany different players you allow
to be a part of this project.
Why did you really want toinclude patients with lived
experience on, this project, andwhat valuable insights do you
think that they were able togive?
Dr Davidson (04:52):
You know, I've learned so much more about it
over the years.
I mean, this is something, youknow, I've been, when you
include my residency, I've beena practicing physician for over
20 years, and I would say it'sreally just been in the last
five years, at least for me,where we really have partnered
with our patients more from astandpoint of, you know, well,
(05:12):
what was this like for you?
What was this experience likefor you?
And, we may think that we'remedically, you know, giving all
of the correct information and,and clinical expertise, but it's
so important to understand, youknow, if we try to implement
this new project, what is itgonna look like from that, the
perspective of the patient andI, I think we really started to
(05:34):
learn more about that as westarted to, to hear more of
these stories.
and I know through the workthat Texas has done implementing
the AIM patient safety bundles,we started on hemorrhage back
in late 2018, early 2019 and itwas something that the Texas
Department of State HealthServices implemented as a
statewide patient safetyinitiative and invited all
(05:56):
birthing hospitals to volunteer.
And as we did the in-personlearning sessions, there were,
there was always a panel ofpatients with lived experiences,
and I always found that to beone of the most impactful
components of the, the entiresession because medically I've
been taught how to treathemorrhage and I've medically
been taught how to managehypertension, but I didn't
(06:16):
necessarily get that teachingon, you know, what this means
for the patient, what herunderstanding is of it when she
wants to receive thatinformation.
In terms of when do you wannahear my whole spiel?
You know, I've got a spiel foreverything But instead of going
on a 20 minute spiel and thensaying, do you have any
questions?
You know, we've, we've learnedhow, you know, better ways, to
(06:36):
connect with the patient andtalk with the patient.
And I think that's so importantfor everyone to be able to
hear.
Because I think as the, thehealthcare team We're just
thinking medically, what do weneed to do?
And I think this has reallyopened our eyes and, and
broadened the perspective of,you know, medically, we know we
need to discharge you with thisinformation, but you need to
tell me how you wanna receivethis information.
(06:58):
Do you want me to give you a, a50 page book to take home after
you've delivered a baby?
Do you want me to give you aone page, little infographic, do
you want me to send somethingto you via My Chart?
And so that's what we need tohear and better understand from
the patients with livedexperiences.
Emily (07:16):
Thank you so much Trashaun, now I would love to
hear from you of course, in myintroduction of you.
We heard a little bit aboutyour story.
If you don't mind kind ofexpanding and talking about your
story a little bit further andwhat made you wanna get involved
in advocacy work?
Yes.
So
Trashaun (07:36):
prior to joining the community of MoMMAs Voices, I
led a team of family, friends,some of my sorority sisters and
colleagues to raise awarenessabout the dangers of
preeclampsia at the PreeclampsiaFoundation's signature event,
the Promise Walk.
So using my mom voice wasreally a natural part of who I
became after losing Mia.
Being diagnosed with HELLPsyndrome at 23 weeks.
(07:57):
Losing Mia a two days afterbirth, it really changed us.
It, it changed me.
I knew I had two options.
I could either stay silent andgrieve alone, or face my fear
advocate and become a member ofa community of survivors.
Emily (08:13):
Thank you for sharing.
I think it's important to notethat not everyone has to go on
this advocacy journey especiallywith you having to deal with a
loss.
I think it's just so many otherlevels of emotion and, detail
that you have to relive everytime.
So, thank you for doing thework that you do.
I know that you've done severalengagements for us but I just
(08:33):
really appreciate yourwillingness to share your story.
Can you tell me a little bitwhat it was like to be a part of
this engagement?
Trashaun (08:42):
To be a part of this engagement?
It's really powerful.
It really is.
It's connection, it'sresources, it's friendship, it's
community.
To our listeners, if you'veever had something happen to you
and you wanna share it withsomeone, whether it was ,a good
experience, or just not what youhope for, that is what the
MoMMAs Voices community is.
(09:03):
It's a network of survivorsengaging together to create the
change that we wanna see, and toaid providers in the value of
having patients at the very coreof their work and becoming
further connected in grassrootsadvocacy.
Emily (09:18):
Thank you so much.
For this particular project.
I think when I saw I, it was soimpressive when it was
finished.
So was that a really neatexperience for you to see?
I know sometimes the speakingengagements are a wonderful
opportunity as well, but whenyou're able to be a part of
something that, you know,there's a physical document
(09:40):
afterwards and, and you'rehoping changes the lives of
other birthing people andmothers.
What was that feeling like foryou?
So for me,
Trashaun (09:52):
if I had to share with other patients that wanna get
in this work, I would reallystress to them that advocating
for change and every facet takesa part of you that you may
never have known was there.
It's passion, yes.
But it really goes beyondpassion.
It's, it's more of a roarinside of you that wants to
change for the next person,family, community, birthing
(10:14):
people, et cetera.
And it's, it's really largerthan life.
And when you really think aboutall of the struggles that we
have faced and overcome, it allstarted because someone
advocated and I always rememberthat in every opportunity that I
get, every platform that I'm onis that I'm using my voice for
change.
I'm using my voice foradvocacy, and it continuously
(10:37):
keeps Mia's memory alive.
Emily (10:40):
Thank you.
Dr.
Davidson, what was it like foryou to work with patients?
I know you mentioned that thiswas a, a new avenue for you, and
what would your recommendationsbe to other organizations?
Thinking about including othervoices in
Dr Davidson (10:55):
their work?
Yeah.
You know, I think I wasfortunate to be at a hospital
that already had a patientadvisory committee and so, you
know, I was able to go to themand, you know, there was already
a system set up where we couldgo to meetings where they were
in attendance and kind of talkthrough, you know, some of our
project ideas and get theirfeedback.
(11:15):
But I found, you know, that I,I can get the same information
from talking to patients I'mtaking care of too.
So I've really tried to kind ofuse every opportunity I can to
better understand, you know,just really listening to the
patients and asking them.
You may not have, so myhospital has a system where, you
know, people have been vettedto be able to get onto this
(11:37):
committee.
There's a process and so Icould even include them on my
quality and safety committee ifI wanted to.
I haven't gotten to that pointyet.
We've got them included on workgroups.
haven't gotten to a point whereI've invited them on to the
actual quality and patientsafety committee, but because my
hospital has that process, thatis something that the patients
on this advisory council can do.
(11:59):
However, I work at anotherhospital that doesn't have that
process set up yet, and so thereit's kind of more a matter of,
you know, just talking with mypatients and learning from them.
I had one very recentexperience just last week in
ultrasound.
Where I was doing an ultrasoundfor fetal growth restriction
and the sonographer came to getme before she had even started
(12:19):
the ultrasound to let me knowthat the patient's heart rate
was very high.
And so I went into her chart tosee, you know, what's been
going on with her, what is hermedical history?
And I saw where she'd had abouta dozen trips to our triage and
in each one, there were, youknow, there were, there was
always documentation of askingif the patient felt safe at home
because we're kind of trainedto look for those warning signs
(12:41):
of, you know, is somebody comingin to triage as their cry for
help?
And, you know, if they havemultiple visits to triages or
something that were missing.
and they kept documenting thatshe felt safe at home, but I
thought, well, I'm gonna ask heragain.
You know, I feel like it's mymedical duty as a physician to
go in and ask her this.
So I go into her room as she'sbeing, getting her ultrasound,
and I ask her this, and she wasjust the sweetest, cutest thing,
(13:03):
but she was like, yes, I feelsafe at home and I am so tired
of you all asking me this.
And we went on for 20 minutesabout like how she was just
like, you know, I'm coming totriage for things you all told
me to come in for.
You told me if my baby doesn'tmove, well come in.
You told me if this come in.
She has a history of amiscarriage of twins followed by
(13:25):
a cesarean delivery at 25 weeksbecause she went into early
labor broke her bag of water,and the baby was not positioned
for a vaginal delivery.
And then that baby died afterdelivery.
And so she, she said, you knowI'm gonna come in, if anything
just doesn't seem quite right.
And that's what y'all aretelling me to do.
But every time I come in here,y'all wanna know if I'm safe at
home.
And it gave me such a differentperspective.
(13:47):
And I had this greatconversation with her and I
said, do you want me to put inyour chart to stop asking you if
you feel safe at home?
And she was like, yes, wouldyou please?
And I was like, and you canblame it on me if the next
person who sees you But I, I putit in a form where like, as
soon as you open her chart, itcan pop up.
And I, I described myconversation with her and said,
you know, we can stop asking thepatient if she feels safe at
(14:09):
home, basically.
Mm-hmm.
And so I, I found that to be avery valuable experience just
from being able to sit andlisten and talk to a patient,
even though she's not part of acommittee, so to speak.
Mm-hmm.
Emily (14:22):
Thank you so much.
I, I'm just blown away by yourability to treat patients as
individuals and be able toreally listen to what they're
trying to say.
I know there are protocols in,in place, you know, for a reason
and kind of finding out aboutwhy she kept going to triage,
was very interesting.
And I just so appreciate thatthere are healthcare providers
(14:44):
like you out there.
It gives us a lot of hope intothe future of maternal health.
Dr Davidson (14:51):
But I'll say this has been a learned process for
me too.
Yeah.
And so I think, you know, it'ssomething that we're trying to
pass on now to our residents andstudents, but this was not part
of my training.
And so I think it's, you know,it's gonna take some time to
change the culture.
But give us, be patient with usplease.
And, and and know that we're,we're trying
Emily (15:11):
I appreciate that.
And Treyshawn, I don't know howyou feel, but when you talk to
other moms you know, one of mybiggest pieces of, of advice is
you have to push back a littlebit more than, than you think
you should.
You know, nothing to to berude, but you know your body
more than than anyone else.
So I don't know if, you know,given your experience in the
(15:33):
work that you do any advice thatyou would have to, to give to
moms out there right now?
Trashaun (15:39):
Absolutely.
We are our biggest advocate.
We know our bodies best, and soif there is something that you
are not sure of or somethingthat just doesn't feel right, be
able to communicate that inwhatever way you can.
Right?
We, there is no script to saysomething doesn't feel right.
There is no code words to saysomething doesn't feel right.
(16:00):
You should be able to messagethat to your doctors and or
providers that something doesn'tfeel right and don't stop until
you get an answer.
Emily (16:08):
Mm-hmm.
absolutely.
Well, thank you both so muchfor your time.
Is there anything else that,that you'd like to say?
I would love, definitely loveto, to give you the microphone,
if there's any ending words thatyou'd like to say.
I was gonna
Dr Davidson (16:23):
ask you a question, Trashaun because something that
people ask me sometimes, and I,I don't really feel like I'm in
a position to answer this, butjust exactly to what you said,
you know, you know your own bodyand you know, and you know if,
what if the, the healthcare teamisn't listening to you.
And so people have asked me,What, what do you tell patients
(16:43):
to help make them advocate forthemselves?
And I'm like, you know, Ishouldn't really have to tell a
patient that she's telling us,but, and we're not listening.
So I think what people wannaknow sometimes is what is your
next step If you are sayingthese things and you don't feel
like you're getting theresponse?
I tell patients, if you feelthat you're not being listened
to, we have a patient advocacy,you know, committee or, a family
(17:05):
advocacy.
A group that can come visityou.
I was like, you keepescalating.
If you feel that you're notbeing listened to, ask for that
person.
Ask for the, you know,attending, ask for the chief of
quality or something.
But I just don't want patientsto feel like it's their fault or
their responsibility.
Any, any tips that you canshare so that I can learn from
them too, to pass them on to mypatient.
Trashaun (17:26):
Yeah, my, I always share with patients is that if
something doesn't feel right,communicate that with your
doctor.
If you don't feel that you'regetting the answer that you
deserve, you can utilize yourcommunity support or your, or
your support person that comesto the hospital with you to
maybe message it different.
If you both feel that you'restill not being heard, ask for
another doctor.
(17:46):
Ask for a resident, ask for anurse, ask for someone else.
And if the doctor is tellingyou something that still doesn't
sit right with you, ask thatdoctor to unpack those for you
because sometimes I think in athospitals and, and, and provider
agencies is that we're so usedto speaking in our own language
that we just assume that allpatients know what we're talking
(18:08):
about.
And sometimes when we'recommunicating with patients, we
may nod our heads.
To say yes.
You understand what I mean?
And sometimes our patients maynod their heads back to say, I
don't really understand what youmean, but I know you're rushing
and I know I have to get out ofhere cause I only have a
30-minute appointment.
So yes, I'm gonna nod my headas well in agreement, but really
(18:30):
is not, they're really notaware of what you just said, or
they're really not able tocomprehend what you said.
And so we're always advocatingfor our patients to ask the
doctors to explain why they tookthis approach, or explain why
you gave me this information togo home with.
Or once you give me thispacket, what does this mean?
What should I do?
And so make sure that you staythere in order for you to
(18:53):
understand what they're givingyou and what they stated to you.
Because what happens is oncethat doctor leaves the room,
then you're left with all thesequestions, and so we wanna make
sure that we get all thatinformation communicated at the
time that you're there.
I love that.
Thank
Dr Davidson (19:08):
you.
Trashaun (19:10):
And so, one more shameless plug that I might have
to add is to any of ourlisteners who are in New Jersey
or in, in the surrounding NewJersey areas, we are having our
Somerset Promise Walk forPreeclampsia on Saturday May 6th
at 9:00 AM.
At Colonial Park in Somerset,New Jersey.
You can follow us on Instagram,Facebook, and Twitter at
(19:32):
expecting dot excellence and wehope to see you there.
Thank you.
Hello and welcome to today's episode from MoMMAs
Voices.
My name is Emily Taylor and Iam in charge of engagement and
outreach.
One of the things I enjoy mostabout working for MoMMAs Voices
is our matchmaking process forpairing certified patient family
partners with providers.
Every third podcast, we willtalk about different matchmaking
(00:20):
success stories.
We hope this can give our PFPsmore information about the types
of engagements out there andgive insight to providers and
organizations of how to includepatients with lived experience
into their work.
I'm super pleased to introduceour two guests today.
Trashaun Powell is a maternalhealth advocate and patient
(00:42):
family partner based in NewJersey.
She survived a near deathpregnancy experience related to
the diagnosis of HELLP syndrome,which resulted in the birth and
death of her first child at 23weeks, resulting in a near-miss
liver hemorrhage requiringmultiple blood transfusions,
surgery, and admission to theICU.
(01:04):
Trashaun now shares hercompelling childbirth story of
hope and tragedy to raiseawareness about the need for
education, about the maternalmortality health crisis, and
funding for a cure forpreeclampsia.
She serves as a volunteer withthe Preeclampsia Foundation and
MoMMAs Voices patient advocate.
(01:25):
And now I'm going to let Dr.
Christina Davidson
Dr Davidson (01:29):
introduce herself.
Hi everyone.
I'm Christina Davidson and I'ma maternal fetal medicine
physician in Houston, Texas.
I hold several quality andsafety and health equity roles
and at Baylor, I am theDepartment of OBGYN's Vice Chair
for quality patient safety andhealth equity.
and I have been a part of ourTexas State Perinatal Quality
(01:50):
Collaborative since it startedabout 10 years ago, I was the
one of the co-chairs of the OBcommittee for many years and had
an opportunity to work withMoMMAs Voices a lot within that.
And I'm currently the chair ofthe Society for Maternal Fetal
Medicines Patient Safety andQuality Committee, and have also
had an opportunity to work withMoMMAs Voices through that.
Even within my own hospital wehave a patient advisory
(02:12):
committee and I've had anopportunity to work with
patients with lived experienceson some of our QI projects.
So I'm very excited to be hereand get to share my experiences
in
Emily (02:22):
this realm.
Thank you.
We appreciate it too.
I know that you've donemultiple things for us, so thank
you for your willingness tocontinue to collaborate.
So today we're here to talkabout the Patient Safety Toolbox
course.
Dr.
Davidson, if you don't mind,can you start by telling us what
that exactly is?
Dr Davidson (02:41):
Yeah, sure.
The Patient Safety Toolbox is acourse that comes from the
Society for Maternal FetalMedicines Patient Safety and
Quality Committee, which I'vebeen a member of for about the
last five years.
And now I'm currently the chairof, and this was actually I
think our third.
Toolbox course where, you know,kind of as a, a toolbox, we
would have different courses onhelping hospitals with, you
(03:03):
know, a variety of thingsrelated to patient safety and,
and quality.
So one year we even didsomething on how to implement
the alliance for innovation onmaternal health or AIM patient
safety bundles on hemorrhage andhypertension.
This time last year, we feltthat we wanted to come together.
And put together a toolbox onhow to incorporate health equity
(03:25):
into all quality and patientsafety projects and how to apply
quality and patient safety witha health equity lens.
And so that was and we wantedto do this broadly.
So this is not just a, amaternal fetal medicine issue.
This is an obstetrics issue.
This is an every person whotakes care of a pregnant
patient.
We all need to come togetherand so we had the opportunity to
(03:47):
offer this toolbox course toanyone who wanted to attend.
And we had speakers across alldisciplines of obstetrics.
So we had obstetrics andgynecology physicians, maternal
fetal medicine physicians.
We had nurses, we had midwiveswe had nurse practitioners and
we had MoMMAs voices.
And so the purpose of thistoolbox was to really be able to
(04:10):
equip people with some tools totake back to their institutions
and work in a multidisciplinaryfashion, to identify
disparities in their hospitals,identify the inequities or the
root causes of thosedisparities, and work together
through a health equity lens.
And along with patients and,their lived experiences in terms
of eliminating thesedisparities and the barriers and
(04:31):
inequities.
Emily (04:34):
Thank you so much.
I'm just so impressed with howmany different players you allow
to be a part of this project.
Why did you really want toinclude patients with lived
experience on, this project, andwhat valuable insights do you
think that they were able togive?
Dr Davidson (04:52):
You know, I've learned so much more about it
over the years.
I mean, this is something, youknow, I've been, when you
include my residency, I've beena practicing physician for over
20 years, and I would say it'sreally just been in the last
five years, at least for me,where we really have partnered
with our patients more from astandpoint of, you know, well,
(05:12):
what was this like for you?
What was this experience likefor you?
And, we may think that we'remedically, you know, giving all
of the correct information and,and clinical expertise, but it's
so important to understand, youknow, if we try to implement
this new project, what is itgonna look like from that, the
perspective of the patient andI, I think we really started to
(05:34):
learn more about that as westarted to, to hear more of
these stories.
and I know through the workthat Texas has done implementing
the AIM patient safety bundles,we started on hemorrhage back
in late 2018, early 2019 and itwas something that the Texas
Department of State HealthServices implemented as a
statewide patient safetyinitiative and invited all
(05:56):
birthing hospitals to volunteer.
And as we did the in-personlearning sessions, there were,
there was always a panel ofpatients with lived experiences,
and I always found that to beone of the most impactful
components of the, the entiresession because medically I've
been taught how to treathemorrhage and I've medically
been taught how to managehypertension, but I didn't
(06:16):
necessarily get that teachingon, you know, what this means
for the patient, what herunderstanding is of it when she
wants to receive thatinformation.
In terms of when do you wannahear my whole spiel?
You know, I've got a spiel foreverything But instead of going
on a 20 minute spiel and thensaying, do you have any
questions?
You know, we've, we've learnedhow, you know, better ways, to
(06:36):
connect with the patient andtalk with the patient.
And I think that's so importantfor everyone to be able to
hear.
Because I think as the, thehealthcare team We're just
thinking medically, what do weneed to do?
And I think this has reallyopened our eyes and, and
broadened the perspective of,you know, medically, we know we
need to discharge you with thisinformation, but you need to
tell me how you wanna receivethis information.
(06:58):
Do you want me to give you a, a50 page book to take home after
you've delivered a baby?
Do you want me to give you aone page, little infographic, do
you want me to send somethingto you via My Chart?
And so that's what we need tohear and better understand from
the patients with livedexperiences.
Emily (07:16):
Thank you so much Trashaun, now I would love to
hear from you of course, in myintroduction of you.
We heard a little bit aboutyour story.
If you don't mind kind ofexpanding and talking about your
story a little bit further andwhat made you wanna get involved
in advocacy work?
Yes.
So
Trashaun (07:36):
prior to joining the community of MoMMAs Voices, I
led a team of family, friends,some of my sorority sisters and
colleagues to raise awarenessabout the dangers of
preeclampsia at the PreeclampsiaFoundation's signature event,
the Promise Walk.
So using my mom voice wasreally a natural part of who I
became after losing Mia.
Being diagnosed with HELLPsyndrome at 23 weeks.
(07:57):
Losing Mia a two days afterbirth, it really changed us.
It, it changed me.
I knew I had two options.
I could either stay silent andgrieve alone, or face my fear
advocate and become a member ofa community of survivors.
Emily (08:13):
Thank you for sharing.
I think it's important to notethat not everyone has to go on
this advocacy journey especiallywith you having to deal with a
loss.
I think it's just so many otherlevels of emotion and, detail
that you have to relive everytime.
So, thank you for doing thework that you do.
I know that you've done severalengagements for us but I just
(08:33):
really appreciate yourwillingness to share your story.
Can you tell me a little bitwhat it was like to be a part of
this engagement?
Trashaun (08:42):
To be a part of this engagement?
It's really powerful.
It really is.
It's connection, it'sresources, it's friendship, it's
community.
To our listeners, if you'veever had something happen to you
and you wanna share it withsomeone, whether it was ,a good
experience, or just not what youhope for, that is what the
MoMMAs Voices community is.
(09:03):
It's a network of survivorsengaging together to create the
change that we wanna see, and toaid providers in the value of
having patients at the very coreof their work and becoming
further connected in grassrootsadvocacy.
Emily (09:18):
Thank you so much.
For this particular project.
I think when I saw I, it was soimpressive when it was
finished.
So was that a really neatexperience for you to see?
I know sometimes the speakingengagements are a wonderful
opportunity as well, but whenyou're able to be a part of
something that, you know,there's a physical document
(09:40):
afterwards and, and you'rehoping changes the lives of
other birthing people andmothers.
What was that feeling like foryou?
So for me,
Trashaun (09:52):
if I had to share with other patients that wanna get
in this work, I would reallystress to them that advocating
for change and every facet takesa part of you that you may
never have known was there.
It's passion, yes.
But it really goes beyondpassion.
It's, it's more of a roarinside of you that wants to
change for the next person,family, community, birthing
(10:14):
people, et cetera.
And it's, it's really largerthan life.
And when you really think aboutall of the struggles that we
have faced and overcome, it allstarted because someone
advocated and I always rememberthat in every opportunity that I
get, every platform that I'm onis that I'm using my voice for
change.
I'm using my voice foradvocacy, and it continuously
(10:37):
keeps Mia's memory alive.
Emily (10:40):
Thank you.
Dr.
Davidson, what was it like foryou to work with patients?
I know you mentioned that thiswas a, a new avenue for you, and
what would your recommendationsbe to other organizations?
Thinking about including othervoices in
Dr Davidson (10:55):
their work?
Yeah.
You know, I think I wasfortunate to be at a hospital
that already had a patientadvisory committee and so, you
know, I was able to go to themand, you know, there was already
a system set up where we couldgo to meetings where they were
in attendance and kind of talkthrough, you know, some of our
project ideas and get theirfeedback.
(11:15):
But I found, you know, that I,I can get the same information
from talking to patients I'mtaking care of too.
So I've really tried to kind ofuse every opportunity I can to
better understand, you know,just really listening to the
patients and asking them.
You may not have, so myhospital has a system where, you
know, people have been vettedto be able to get onto this
(11:37):
committee.
There's a process and so Icould even include them on my
quality and safety committee ifI wanted to.
I haven't gotten to that pointyet.
We've got them included on workgroups.
haven't gotten to a point whereI've invited them on to the
actual quality and patientsafety committee, but because my
hospital has that process, thatis something that the patients
on this advisory council can do.
(11:59):
However, I work at anotherhospital that doesn't have that
process set up yet, and so thereit's kind of more a matter of,
you know, just talking with mypatients and learning from them.
I had one very recentexperience just last week in
ultrasound.
Where I was doing an ultrasoundfor fetal growth restriction
and the sonographer came to getme before she had even started
(12:19):
the ultrasound to let me knowthat the patient's heart rate
was very high.
And so I went into her chart tosee, you know, what's been
going on with her, what is hermedical history?
And I saw where she'd had abouta dozen trips to our triage and
in each one, there were, youknow, there were, there was
always documentation of askingif the patient felt safe at home
because we're kind of trainedto look for those warning signs
(12:41):
of, you know, is somebody comingin to triage as their cry for
help?
And, you know, if they havemultiple visits to triages or
something that were missing.
and they kept documenting thatshe felt safe at home, but I
thought, well, I'm gonna ask heragain.
You know, I feel like it's mymedical duty as a physician to
go in and ask her this.
So I go into her room as she'sbeing, getting her ultrasound,
and I ask her this, and she wasjust the sweetest, cutest thing,
(13:03):
but she was like, yes, I feelsafe at home and I am so tired
of you all asking me this.
And we went on for 20 minutesabout like how she was just
like, you know, I'm coming totriage for things you all told
me to come in for.
You told me if my baby doesn'tmove, well come in.
You told me if this come in.
She has a history of amiscarriage of twins followed by
(13:25):
a cesarean delivery at 25 weeksbecause she went into early
labor broke her bag of water,and the baby was not positioned
for a vaginal delivery.
And then that baby died afterdelivery.
And so she, she said, you knowI'm gonna come in, if anything
just doesn't seem quite right.
And that's what y'all aretelling me to do.
But every time I come in here,y'all wanna know if I'm safe at
home.
And it gave me such a differentperspective.
(13:47):
And I had this greatconversation with her and I
said, do you want me to put inyour chart to stop asking you if
you feel safe at home?
And she was like, yes, wouldyou please?
And I was like, and you canblame it on me if the next
person who sees you But I, I putit in a form where like, as
soon as you open her chart, itcan pop up.
And I, I described myconversation with her and said,
you know, we can stop asking thepatient if she feels safe at
(14:09):
home, basically.
Mm-hmm.
And so I, I found that to be avery valuable experience just
from being able to sit andlisten and talk to a patient,
even though she's not part of acommittee, so to speak.
Mm-hmm.
Emily (14:22):
Thank you so much.
I, I'm just blown away by yourability to treat patients as
individuals and be able toreally listen to what they're
trying to say.
I know there are protocols in,in place, you know, for a reason
and kind of finding out aboutwhy she kept going to triage,
was very interesting.
And I just so appreciate thatthere are healthcare providers
(14:44):
like you out there.
It gives us a lot of hope intothe future of maternal health.
Dr Davidson (14:51):
But I'll say this has been a learned process for
me too.
Yeah.
And so I think, you know, it'ssomething that we're trying to
pass on now to our residents andstudents, but this was not part
of my training.
And so I think it's, you know,it's gonna take some time to
change the culture.
But give us, be patient with usplease.
And, and and know that we're,we're trying
Emily (15:11):
I appreciate that.
And Treyshawn, I don't know howyou feel, but when you talk to
other moms you know, one of mybiggest pieces of, of advice is
you have to push back a littlebit more than, than you think
you should.
You know, nothing to to berude, but you know your body
more than than anyone else.
So I don't know if, you know,given your experience in the
(15:33):
work that you do any advice thatyou would have to, to give to
moms out there right now?
Trashaun (15:39):
Absolutely.
We are our biggest advocate.
We know our bodies best, and soif there is something that you
are not sure of or somethingthat just doesn't feel right, be
able to communicate that inwhatever way you can.
Right?
We, there is no script to saysomething doesn't feel right.
There is no code words to saysomething doesn't feel right.
(16:00):
You should be able to messagethat to your doctors and or
providers that something doesn'tfeel right and don't stop until
you get an answer.
Emily (16:08):
Mm-hmm.
absolutely.
Well, thank you both so muchfor your time.
Is there anything else that,that you'd like to say?
I would love, definitely loveto, to give you the microphone,
if there's any ending words thatyou'd like to say.
I was gonna
Dr Davidson (16:23):
ask you a question, Trashaun because something that
people ask me sometimes, and I,I don't really feel like I'm in
a position to answer this, butjust exactly to what you said,
you know, you know your own bodyand you know, and you know if,
what if the, the healthcare teamisn't listening to you.
And so people have asked me,What, what do you tell patients
(16:43):
to help make them advocate forthemselves?
And I'm like, you know, Ishouldn't really have to tell a
patient that she's telling us,but, and we're not listening.
So I think what people wannaknow sometimes is what is your
next step If you are sayingthese things and you don't feel
like you're getting theresponse?
I tell patients, if you feelthat you're not being listened
to, we have a patient advocacy,you know, committee or, a family
(17:05):
advocacy.
A group that can come visityou.
I was like, you keepescalating.
If you feel that you're notbeing listened to, ask for that
person.
Ask for the, you know,attending, ask for the chief of
quality or something.
But I just don't want patientsto feel like it's their fault or
their responsibility.
Any, any tips that you canshare so that I can learn from
them too, to pass them on to mypatient.
Trashaun (17:26):
Yeah, my, I always share with patients is that if
something doesn't feel right,communicate that with your
doctor.
If you don't feel that you'regetting the answer that you
deserve, you can utilize yourcommunity support or your, or
your support person that comesto the hospital with you to
maybe message it different.
If you both feel that you'restill not being heard, ask for
another doctor.
(17:46):
Ask for a resident, ask for anurse, ask for someone else.
And if the doctor is tellingyou something that still doesn't
sit right with you, ask thatdoctor to unpack those for you
because sometimes I think in athospitals and, and, and provider
agencies is that we're so usedto speaking in our own language
that we just assume that allpatients know what we're talking
(18:08):
about.
And sometimes when we'recommunicating with patients, we
may nod our heads.
To say yes.
You understand what I mean?
And sometimes our patients maynod their heads back to say, I
don't really understand what youmean, but I know you're rushing
and I know I have to get out ofhere cause I only have a
30-minute appointment.
So yes, I'm gonna nod my headas well in agreement, but really
(18:30):
is not, they're really notaware of what you just said, or
they're really not able tocomprehend what you said.
And so we're always advocatingfor our patients to ask the
doctors to explain why they tookthis approach, or explain why
you gave me this information togo home with.
Or once you give me thispacket, what does this mean?
What should I do?
And so make sure that you staythere in order for you to
(18:53):
understand what they're givingyou and what they stated to you.
Because what happens is oncethat doctor leaves the room,
then you're left with all thesequestions, and so we wanna make
sure that we get all thatinformation communicated at the
time that you're there.
I love that.
Thank
Dr Davidson (19:08):
you.
Trashaun (19:10):
And so, one more shameless plug that I might have
to add is to any of ourlisteners who are in New Jersey
or in, in the surrounding NewJersey areas, we are having our
Somerset Promise Walk forPreeclampsia on Saturday May 6th
at 9:00 AM.
At Colonial Park in Somerset,New Jersey.
You can follow us on Instagram,Facebook, and Twitter at
(19:32):
expecting dot excellence and wehope to see you there.
Thank you.
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