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What should foster youth expect from pregnancy and prenatal care? Kat, Cody, Phillisha and Sarah talk about getting the care you need leading up to birth, which is known as prenatal care.

They dive into getting the support you need from the medical system, building your own support system, and exploring the parts of pregnancy or starting a family that people who have been in foster care might experience differently. Plus, they share helpful pre and post-natal resources that helped them and could help you, too.

Resources:

Planned Parenthood: a trusted healthcare provider whose mission is to ensure all people have access to the care and resources they need to make informed decisions about their bodies, their lives, and their futures

Black Infant Health: an organization that empowers pregnant and mothering Black women using an evidence-informed group-based approach, where participants get to meet, interact and build a sisterhood with other Black women.

Birthworkers of Color Collective: an organization that connects pregnant/birthing and postpartum individuals, their families, and larger communities with educational, emotional, and physical support through all pregnancy & postpartum outcomes

Frontline Doulas: a health program providing Black families with Black doulas at no cost

RHEP’s analysis of the California Department of Social Services’ report that shows disparities in healthcare, including prenatal care.

Content Advisory: The stories we are sharing sometimes touch on different kinds of trauma, please take care of yourself while you listen.

Host:

Kat, Youth Advisory Board Member

Participants:

Phillisha, Youth Advisory Board member

Cody, Youth Advisory Board member

Sarah Ferguson, Birthing The Block

About Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life:

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is a podcast from foster youth, for foster youth, with unfiltered conversations about puberty, relationships, sexual health, identity, and much more that we wish were part of our upbringing. It is hosted by the youth advisory board of the Reproductive Health Equity Project at the National Center for Youth Law.

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is supported through a grant to the National Center for Youth Law from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. We are very grateful for their support. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Hilton Foundation.

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is produced in California. Laws, policies and programs discussed in this episode may be specific to California.

Watch our episodes at https://rhep.info/self-taught.

Learn more about the podcast and the Reproductive Health Equity Project at www.fosterreprohealth.org

Email us with questions, comments, and feedback at email@fosterreprohealth.org.