When critical support is promised to women and gets taken away over and over again, we get fed up. The U.S. has relied on mothers' ability to 'build back bleeding' for far too long and one grassroots movements is say enough. Listen to this episode to learn more about the Chamber of Mothers, their mission and how you can get involved.

In the US, there's no paid maternity leave, and many moms must go back to work just two weeks after giving birth. This hurts their finances and health. Maternal mortality rates are high, especially for women of color. There's also a lack of childcare workers and affordable childcare, which makes it hard for women to work and impacts society.

In this episode, Kimberly Didrikson, the founder of Learning Motherhood, talks about her organization's mission to help working moms return to work after having a baby. Learning Motherhood offers resources, coaching, and consulting to help employers support parents. She also discusses her involvement with the Chamber of Mothers, an organization fighting for paid leave and supporting working moms. They focus on three key areas: paid leave, maternal health, and childcare, working to make changes at state and federal levels. Kimberly emphasizes the importance of factors like housing and nutrition on maternal health and highlights grassroots movements, local chapters, strategic communication, and community-building, to drive change. The goal is to have moms' voices heard by lawmakers to improve paid leave, healthcare, and childcare.

Listen now and be inspired by Kimberly and the mission and initiatives undertaken by the Chamber of Mothers while highlighting its potential impact on improving conditions for mothers across different communities.

Topics Discussed:

• Learning Motherhood's mission to assist moms as they go back to work after having a baby.

• Learning Motherhood's offerings like resources, coaching, and consulting for employers to help parents.

• Kimberly's involvement with the Chamber of Mothers, which fights for paid leave and supports working moms.

• The challenges faced by moms in the US, including unpaid maternity leave, short return-to-work periods, and financial struggles.

• The shortage of childcare workers and limited access to affordable childcare.

• The Chamber of Mothers' efforts to bring about changes through advocacy at the state and federal levels.

• How social factors affect Maternal Health.

• The need to diversify the perinatal workforce to ensure quality care for all moms.

• Grassroots movements in local chambers where moms join forces to drive change and develop advocacy strategies.

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Find Kimberly here:

• LinkedIn | Kimberly Didrikson
• Chamber of Mothers Website | ⁠www.chamberofmothers.com⁠
• Chamber of Mothers Instagram | ⁠@chamberofmothers⁠
• Learning Motherhood Website | www.learningmotherhood.co
• Learning Motherhood Facebook | Learning Motherhood

Resources:

• Black Maternal Health Momnibus

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kate-griffin-gleysteen/support

About the Podcast

There is no playbook for being a working mom! Even now, when women were raised to believe they can have it all, navigating parenthood and the workforce feels insurmountable. The COVID pandemic lock down shined a light on how much mom's bear the brunt of raising children and how little room the workforce has to help parents. The systemic issues relate to how desolate our government spending is for childcare and parental support. So with the odds against us, how do parents and professionals navigate the intersection of their identities to thrive instead of compromise? Let's talk about it.