On July 17, my husband, Bryan, and I welcomed our son into the world. Baby Ahsan came four weeks early, and it was a difficult birth. But he is beautiful, and he is ours, and, as all new moms understand, every second was worth it.
The arrival of our child made me Georgia’s first state senator to give birth while in office. Being pregnant and being a lawmaker at the same time has further opened my eyes to how difficult pregnancy and motherhood are for so many Georgia families, especially those who don’t have access to the excellent health care I did.
Credit: Photo contributed by the candidate
Credit: Photo contributed by the candidate
That has to change.
I had a high-risk pregnancy from the start: I was diagnosed at nine weeks with gestational diabetes, which I managed with the help of my dedicated care team. Then, during a routine prenatal checkup at 36 weeks — a month before my due date — my obstetrician noticed my amniotic fluid was low. I went directly to Northside Hospital Atlanta, fortunately just 10 minutes away, for an urgent consultation. My doctor there said my baby was in jeopardy and recommended inducing labor immediately; and after a grueling 42 hours, Ahsan was born.
We both had a rough recovery but, thankfully, we are both back in good health. I’m lucky: as a state employee, I have access to generous health care benefits, which protected me and safeguarded my baby through a high-risk pregnancy and urgent birth. Without it, I might not have caught my gestational diabetes; my third-trimester complications might have worsened; my baby might have died.
Not every Georgia mother and baby has the same access to care — or even a doctor or hospital close enough to get to in an emergency.
Tragically, Republican state legislators — who all get the same excellent benefits I do — have denied thousands of Georgians access to health care. They have added burdensome requirements to keep low-income women off the Medicaid rolls. They also voted down Medicaid expansion. As legislators, we have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, yet these actions by my Republican colleagues feel punitive.
The result: Georgia mothers and families don’t get the care they need, putting them and their babies at risk. More than half Georgia’s counties don’t even have an OB-GYN, further restricting access to critical care for mothers and babies. Consequently, Georgia has one of the worst infant mortality rates — and one of the highest maternal mortality rates. These statistics have gotten worse, not better, in recent years, and Black mothers are at more than twice the risk. Prenatal and postpartum depression affect 30,000 Georgia mothers each year, many of whom don’t get diagnosed or treated properly. Georgia is one of the most dangerous states in the nation to give birth.
Incredibly, some of Georgia’s elected officials are trying to make it even harder for pregnant women. Attorney General Chris Carr recently sued to block long-awaited federal rules that will require employers to give mothers basic medical accommodations in the workplace, such as bathroom breaks and time off for doctor’s appointments. A judge dismissed the suit, but it’s still appalling for Georgia’s attorney general to be spending public funds to harass working mothers.
Even as Georgia’s right-wing officials actively work to make pregnancy and motherhood harder, they also prevent us from deciding when and how we become mothers at all.
Gov. Brian P. Kemp said he’s open to banning birth control and signed one of America’s most restrictive abortion bans — in a state where both mothers and babies die at alarming rates. He signed a “fetal personhood” law that could lead to murder charges for mothers who have miscarriages.
Georgia’s Republican members of Congress co-sponsored legislation that would make IVF illegal and voted “no” on a bill that would protect it. Protecting IVF — an expensive, invasive, monthslong series of medical procedures that parents only undertake if they are eager to lovingly care for a new child — is the definition of “family friendly.” But these politicians would make it illegal across the board. We need more leaders who are committed to putting mothers and babies ahead of politics, not using them to score political points.
I was born and raised in Georgia. I know Georgia can be a great place to raise a family, and I’m looking forward to introducing my son to the things about Georgia I loved as a child. But not every Georgia mother has the protections and advantages that I have, and until Georgia lives up to the “pro-life” and “pro-family” values many of our legislators love to talk about, women, mothers, babies and families will needlessly suffer.
Baby Ahsan is my reminder that we can never stop fighting for a just world — and I dedicate my work on behalf of Georgia’s mothers and families to him.
Nabilah Islam Parkes is Georgia State Senator for District 7, encompassing Peachtree Corners, Berkeley Lake, Norcross, Duluth, Suwanee, and Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County.
