Finalist: Take Care: The Blood, Milk, and Tears of the American Postpartum Journey
Take Care: The Blood, Milk, and Tears of the American Postpartum Journey is a photographic documentary project chronicling the most ignored stage of the birthing experience. It’s not about pregnancy. It’s not about birth. It’s about the 365 days after birth: the postpartum period.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 80% of maternal deaths are preventable. Most of these deaths (65%) occur during the postpartum period.
While some maternal deaths stem from mental health, 77% are from physical health complications.
Despite these alarming statistics, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that women receive 15 in-person medical checkups before birth, but only one after birth. Still, 40% of women receive no postpartum care at all.
This photographic essay follows multiple women in America during their postpartum period, revealing the health complications that many experience but we rarely see.
Overwhelmed
Sierra Hill sorts her medications in her home in Winder, Ga., on Feb. 26, 2024. Hill gave birth to her second child in 2022 and had a smooth early postpartum period. But four months after delivery, she felt a crushing weight on her chest. Initially, Hill’s doctors told her she was just having high blood pressure, and it wasn’t until her symptoms got much worse did she get a correct diagnosis. Hill was eventually diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy—one of the primary causes of postpartum maternal mortality in the United States.
