🥰 Announcing the All The Feels (ATF) Summit hosted by
@OathCare
- the first of it’s kind, bringing together parents to discuss the emotional experience of parenthood 🔥
Register for free here:
How do you “balance” it all?
Here are the top 10 things
@traestephens
and I do to be successful in the workplace while being a loving parent and partner.
tl;dr - we don’t strive for balance
🧵/
Digital health companies claim that clinicians get stuff wrong and AI is the solution, but what if clinicians ahem*doctors*ahem learned how to say:
🤷I don’t know
🙏 I’m sorry
☎️ I’ll follow-up with you
I consider myself a devout Christian woman. Even though I grew up not supporting abortion, I have come to understand through years of learning & personal experiences that abortion has to be a right & a choice to allow for our society to get to the truest expression of “pro-life”.
6/ Stay humble - sometimes doing the ridiculous, the small, or the slow things make the biggest impact. Like
@traestephens
making cinnamon sugar toast and stitching together Thad’s costume for school this morning. *swoon*. I fell in love with him even more.
10/ Don’t be lazy - do the damn work y’all (but not like how
@KimKardashian
says). We work together after 8p, we are ruthless with our schedules to not waste time (unnecessary meetings, etc), we optimize our work environments for max productivity, and we drink lots of
@cometeer
There was this moment today when I realized that
@traestephens
and I were both in board meetings for our companies and it felt like we were DOIN THE DAMN THING🤴👸🏻
At
@OathCare
, we believe digital moms' groups are foundational to the fertility, pregnancy, & pediatric healthcare experience &
@JessGrose
's interview with
@helena_andrews
has been the best exploration of their importance I've ever read.
Here's why. 🧵/
4/ Learn how to say NO 95% of the time - with any opportunity, we default say no if it’s not aligned with our top priorities and not with people we want to deeply do life with.
As cofounder and chief nursing officer of
@OathCare
, it’s my responsibility and privilege to share my intimate story on an issue that creates such division with the hope of bringing us closer together.
Thanks for the interview
@ChristieSmythe
& for encouraging me to open up on all things career, VC, mentorship & parenthood.
On the hustle culture front, thx to
@alexisohanian
for saying what needed to be said. It struck a chord.
Advocate for yourself in the healthcare setting. The system is not set up to do this. Doctors are not trained to care for your specific needs and wants but follow generic protocols so they don't get sued.
Here are several tips on how to be your best healthcare advocate: 🧵/
7/ Work on yourself -
@traestephens
and I have rhythms of daily prayer, meditation, and regular time with our executive coach,
@ConsciousLG
, + spiritual director. We host intimate dinners + small group discussions to stay curious around tough and important issues that we face.
5/ Get yourself a
@nat_Alooch
- but no seriously, we hit the jackpot w/ a family member living with us to nanny. Having consistent, stable, childcare (i.e. au-pairs) allows for freedom + flexibility in one’s schedule. This can also look like
@CamillaFHermann
+
@aikeho
’s commune.
1/ Do house tasks that bring you joy - broadly speaking
@traestephens
does the dishes, laundry, gets the kids ready + makes breakfast and I plan and execute on social + school events, trips/vacations, and date nights. Yep, these don’t follow typical roles/stereotypes.
2/ When one is having a busy season, the other pumps the breaks - this needs to be respectfully communicated + planned. Having a clearly stated beginning + end with what will be sacrificed + redeemed is important to making this work. When it does, it’s a divine intervention.
1)
#infertility
is a disease - cover it
2) >35 y/o doesn’t qualify a “geriatric uterus” - cancel it
3) infertility is not just a
#womenshealth
issue - change it
Happy
#NIAW2022
- let’s act like we’re living in the 21st century
This year for
#IWD2022
, we commissioned portraits of each of our female founders and team members, representing the qualities we admire in each.
@mddstephens
, we're grateful to be inspired by your passion and purpose.
with physicians and patients both getting fed up with the system and the layers that exist between them, I can see the groundswell of a parallel almost anarchist healthcare system being built operating outside of the current rules and regulations they deem to be nonsensical
The burden of infertility must not just fall on women! Male fertility is an overlooked issue but thanks to the brilliant
@lesliejz
it won't be for long.
Male fertility must come out of the shadows. Pleased that
@TheEconomist
let me write about this issue, as it impacts pregnant women and future children too.
Catch me 11am tomorrow in The Newsroom at
#HLTH2022
where I drop some unpopular facts about the state of maternal and child health in the US - tl;dr I am the statistic
I’ve experienced toxic work environments within medicine and academia. Building
@OathCare
, a platform that delivers better healthcare, begins with creating a better environment for team members to fully realize this big mission.
I’ve seen far too many leaders who build themselves up by making those around them feel small. If you’ve worked in startups, you’ve probably worked for one of those people. Here’s how we’re building our culture differently at
@oathcare
👇
🧵
9/ Make time to be alone - so much is pulling for your attention: partner, kids, work, friends, etc.
@traestephens
and I have rhythms of being alone to rest, create, or simply recharge. He fly fishes and I go on overnights alone (hike, eat, sleep allll by myself).
8/ Whatever you do for work, have it be what lights you up every single day - whether it’s as a janitor or a judge, if you do what brings you joy, you will always be satisfied. If you don’t know what this is, read
@DYourLife
+ I guarantee after reading it, you’ll have your answer
Mommymoon > Babymoon.
Mommymoon = a trip mom takes ALONE some time after the baby arrives to spend quality time with self and reconnect with their body and mind in a nourishing, beautiful place that encourages relaxation and rejuvenation.
The thing no one talks about in digital health is that since we've all been at it, the key markers of health have for the most part gotten worse & not better:
- rates of chronic disease
- life expectancy
- mental health diagnoses
- maternal mortality
- cost
& more
19 years ago the
#Eagles
were in the NFC championship and lost but that was the day
@traestephens
and I met for the first time - little did we know this was the start of a beautiful Bengals/Eagles relationship - until now.
“When Clooney sells tequila, Alba sells diapers, or Kylie sells lip liner, they’re all doing the same thing — leveraging their brands to make money in a commodity market. Instead of cosmetics & alcohol, tech celebrities do Enterprise SaaS and VC.”🔥
@traestephens
&
@markiewagner
tech is facing a crisis of bullshit. important to ask yourself "am i really making the world a better place rn, or am i just building another SaaS company on a beach in bali." from
@traestephens
and
@markiewagner
: happy thanksgiving, choose good quests.
get a full circle doula (a prepartum, birth, and postpartum doula) - this is my
#1
for a reason. Even if you’re the Virgin Mary, everyone needs a doula 1/6
@JTLonsdale
@danprimack
What’s your point here? To have birthing partners take less leave? Ok. How much less? How does your position improve the abysmal maternal health outcomes in this country? You know the U.S has some of THE WORST maternal health outcomes compared to any other DEVELOPED nation?
The biggest mistake with my first company was starting it just because I "wanted to be a founder"
If you do this, you will never have the resiliency necessary to make it successful
Start a company only when there's a problem you're so obsessed with solving that it gnaws at you
have a pelvic floor specialist evaluation after each birth. No matter whether you have an easy vaginal birth or a scheduled c-section, your pelvic floor is f**ked because you just grew a pumpkin inside of your belly 6/6
theres a good number of very dear friends who are pregnant right now.
i'm so ecstatically happy for them, but also sad.
a thread (buckle up. I mean it.)
its about postpartum, parenting in this society, and the need for Deep Auntie Culture
You know you work with the best founders when you casually mention that you have heartburn and the next thing you know
@CamillaFHermann
is texting a photo of a wall of TUMS and asking about the best time to drop it off 💗
At
@OathCare
, we build intimate community not only for our members but for our facilitators, providers, and even our HQ team.
@ParenthoodVntrs
has been part of that community that has supported our HQ team from our very early days and for that we are continually grateful.
Huge congratulations to all the accomplishments our founders had this past year, and a million thanks 🙏 to all of our wonderful founders, mentors, speakers, and parents who made 2021 such an incredible year!
"Knowing there’s a company that's completely dedicated itself to me finding my happy place and building an exquisite travel experience… I'm going to choose that every single time."
—
@CamillaFHermann
on
@Wander
Maternal care is siloed in stages (fertility, pregnancy, pediatrics) and then again siloed in body segments (pelvic floor, GI, GYN) - I’ll never know how my GI system is related to my motherhood journey.
11/ “Another thing I like about mom groups is seeing the way other people parent”.
@helena_andrews
, we've lost "the village" that allowed for intergenerational transfer of wisdom & now we're more isolated than ever. Mom groups break this cycle &
@OathCare
is leading the charge.
@chrissyfarr
I got Thad a medal and a book about becoming a big brother - he wore the medal and read the book all of the time. I also got Thad a gift from the new baby as a “come in peace” gift. It was a doctor’s outfit and kit. Start thinking about carving out 1:1 time with the older one.
work w/ a mental health specialist from day 1 of TTC thru at least 1 yr postpartum. You won’t know what day it is until at least their 1st bday so one of the safest things you can do for you & your family is to have someone truly looking out for your mental & emotional health 5/6
We're hosting an IG Live to answer all your questions about fertility & pregnancy with
@mddstephens
, Oath's Cofounder and CNO, and
@lesliejz
, author of Bumpin'! Join us on Wednesday, Feb 23 at 12pm PST.
📷 IG:
@oathcare
🔗
Thrilled to be presenting at
@ENRS_Science
how
@OathCare
is a new model of healthcare that aims to reduce stress (a SDoH) in moms and kids through expert medical advice combined with supportive community.
An important, real piece about women’s health particularly around the pre- and postpartum experience from
@chrissyfarr
who is “in it” right now! Loving the positive contributions in this space coming from
@janevandis
@lesliejz
Dr. Laurie Green from
@mavenproject
and
@OathCare
For Second Opinion, I got real about my own experience of pregnancy, postpartum and “mom guilt.”
I also went deep on the state of women’s health - and where we need to go from here.
One of the amazing things that my 30s has brought me is professional female friends. It’s been amazing to see the women in my life support each other to reach our goals. It’s shown me what’s possible when women aren’t competing for limited space & resources, but collaborating! 🥰
In a breakout group right now with women leaders in health tech talking about how info within their org is “confidential”. How are we supposed to unsilo healthcare and create a more equitable and accessible system without creating a transparent culture within our own companies?
@nabuelezam
I deeply empathize with your story. Thank you for sharing. I too have all of the resources and knowledge but the system still failed me when experiencing
#postpartum
#depression
. I wrote about it here:
My main takeaway from
#JPM2022
so far is that, with $29 billion flowing into digital health startups, still too few founders are talking in specifics about literally how they are doing what they are doing. Like describing the basics of care models is really so much to ask.
workout during my entire pregnancy with the help of a coach - who could also help with nutrition. It gets so hard towards the end and that’s when exercise and nutrition matters most 2/6
Someone was asking me if a booth is worth it at HLTH. It really isn’t.
You’re better off getting a suite and spending all your time right now scheduling a ton of meetings to host there AND getting on the list of all the private after parties.
Our country is facing a maternal mental health crisis. Perinatal mood & anxiety disorders (PMADs), including postpartum depression, are the
#1
complication of pregnancy & childbirth.
[thread]
@clhubes
Truth!
@OathCare
gives you a mental health therapist, a pediatrician, and a parent guide all in one chat to address the stress of your kid being sick, gives you evidence-based care to treat the fever, and anecdotal wisdom from someone who has been there.
A big thank you to
@DrBurkeHarris
for serving as CA’s FIRST Surgeon General. Her work in linking
#ACEs
and chronic disease and pushing for ACEs screening across CA, especially in the
#Medicaid
population, is extremely important.
@OathCare
strives to continue the work she started.
📢 I am filled with emotion as I share that my last day serving as CA Surgeon General will be February 11. I am incredibly proud to have been part of a team that, together, worked tirelessly to protect the health and well-being of all Californians at such a critical time.
Calling all dads and partners! You don't want to miss the last two sessions of
@OathCare
's ATF Summit. They are being led by stellar dads -
@kmele
and our closing keynote,
@DrHarveyKarp
. ⬇️⬇️⬇️