Maternal Mortality in America and the Crisis for Rural Women | Linda Robinson | TEDxDirigo

Women in the United States are subject to exceedingly high rates of cesarean section and experience far greater risk of death in childbirth than any other industrialized nation. In this impassioned talk, Linda Robinson calls for accessible, affordable, and women-centric health care for all, especially in under-served rural areas where women’s health options are further curtailed.

Linda Robinson is a nurse-midwife whose international work has taken her to Malawi, Africa, as a Peace Corps volunteer; to American Samoa where she started the first midwifery practice; and to the Democratic Republic of Congo with Doctors without Borders. She is the author of Sunday Morning Shamwana: A Midwife’s Letters From the Field, and has co-authored two other books, Being Pregnant: A Woman’s Answer Book, and Women’s Sexual Health. She has worked in women’s health care for thirty years, caring for women in all walks of life. She is currently working on a book about health care delivery to women in rural America. Linda is the mother of five children and lives in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she was one of the founders of the Women’s Health Center.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx