By Claire Richmond, rare disease advocate I pressed my ear to the phone and sensed my life splitting, cleaving cleanly in two: the time before I had a name for my illness, and the time after. Until that phone call, I had been convinced I was slowly slipping into madness. Read more…
By Max Mowitz, LGBTQ advocate and educator In my work as an educator and advocate for the rights of LGBTQ people, the topic I get the most questions about is gender-affirming care. Gender-affirming care and surgeries are lifesaving to the LGBTQ community, but there are ways that medical systems can Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless contributing editor The Young Women’s Resource Center offers a variety of free services and programs geared toward young moms, among other focus areas. One of the services matches the young moms with doulas to navigate the process of becoming a mom. Doulas are nonmedical professionals who Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless contributing editor Black birthing people in Iowa are six times as likely to die from childbirth than their white counterparts. Olivia Samples has heard that statistic plenty of times. Quite frankly, they’re tired of hearing it. “Having folks die in childbirth should not be an outcome Read more…
Aneesa Afroze is the infectious disease consulting physician, president of medical staff and director for antimicrobial stewardship at MercyOne and is responsible for day-to-day medical staff issues and patient treatment planning. Co-workers describe her as the Dr. Anthony Fauci of the hospital, by which she is flattered, but she says Read more…
Megan Srinivas is an infectious disease physician and public health researcher based in Fort Dodge and is on the faculty at the University of North Carolina. Her research is focused on health inequities that are affecting rural areas both domestically and internationally. Additionally as a member of the council for Read more…
This summer, I traveled 1,453 miles across the state to ask 12 women the same questions: When was a time that you were fearless? What does being fearless mean to you? What does it look like? What does it feel like? In doing so, I’ve had a lot of time Read more…