PROGRAM PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT!

1 MOM is 2 Many, a HER Foundation collaborative campaign, is thrilled to announce our new program partnership with San Diego International Birthing Project!

San Diego International Birthing Project (SDIBP) is a community-based volunteer organization that provides support and advocacy for African American and women of color obtaining prenatal care. SDIBP serves mothers, babies, and families who need access to adequate healthcare and social support in San Diego County.

Together, we will support mothers facing HG, distribute HER HG tools, build new connections in the policy arena, and collaborate on strategies to prevent maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.

• Improve health and well-being of mothers in the SDIBP community.
• Strategize to prevent negative maternal and fetal outcomes.

Join us in welcoming San Diego International Birthing Project to the 1 MOM is 2 Many collaborative by giving today to further our work together.

The SDIBP has given me support by sending me different articles about natural birth . Checking in with my pregnancy progress weekly and giving me advice about making health choices regarding eating certain things and exercise. I have also enjoyed the virtual meetings where everyone has shared their experiences with their pregnancies. I feel more comfortable with being more ready to deliver my own baby . 

Courtney

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Shelley’s Story

Twenty-four years ago, I found out I was expecting a baby! This would be my third child. Previously married, and recently divorced, I was excited and scared. Excited to bring another beautiful child into the world to love and cherish, and I knew it was God’s blessing and his plan not my own. But I was scared, too, that I would have the terrible vomiting, tiredness, anemia, and weight loss I had two times before. I learned to recognize the moment I was pregnant because my mouth would water and I would vomit hours out of the day. Yet, the doctors told me it was a bad case of morning sickness.

After many doctor appointments, I expressed to my physician my concerns and how I was feeling. I could not eat or drink for the first few weeks. For the third time, I was diagnosed with morning sickness and told to eat small meals every two hours of the day and to drink as much as possible. This sounded all too familiar, and I cried going home because I felt unheard.

In the first trimester, I lost about twenty-five pounds and was very, very weak. Smells would propel me to vomit. To date, I can recall the feeling, smell, and taste in my mouth that gave me a stomachache. At approximately, twenty weeks pregnant, I was taken to the hospital by a family member who found me in bed for two days without eating or drinking because I was afraid to vomit. I was admitted for extreme dehydration. I was very weak and my brown skin turned grey and pale. I stayed for one day receiving an IV fluids, sodium, and magnesium.

The doctors were perplexed as to why I was so sick and losing weight and ran many tests. After going through my family history and previous pregnancies, all they knew was it happened twice before, and it was possibly hereditary. I was taken off work and all activities by the doctor’s orders for the duration of the pregnancy. Because I was so sick, all I did was stay in bed. With my family’s support and monitoring me, I was able to eat soups and crackers in my last trimester. I prayed to God to help me and the baby, and most of all to have a healthy baby. My son was a very healthy weight with no known problems, and I I was able to have a natural birth and breastfeed.

I was a victim of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG). At that time, my doctor had not known diagnosis for my illness. There were no cell phones, internet searches, or social media to do research and find the HER Foundation. Because I understand how devasting this disease can be and how it can affect women, my mission is to be an advocate for those women who don’t understand what is happening or why and that it is not always “normal.”.