Founder’s Note 10

I wanted a do-over of 2021. Rewind the beat. Let’s make that entrance again.

As I sat on my couch, I had the same jaw dropping moment that millions of people around the world had as our Capitol was being terrorized by insurgents threatening our democracy.

I thought about who to call and what to do, but I quickly realized that Poppy Seed Health was probably going to get swamped with text messages like we did during voting season.
In November, we had one of the busiest months of 2020 (in text messages and births!) as questions flooded in from members asking about how their healthcare coverage would be impacted, fear about COVID-19 being on the rise and anxieties about having to leave their jobs because childcare was still not accessible to them.

“Safety” has been on our hearts and minds.

We have kept our focus squarely on supporting you through what seems to be the most tumultuous times in our lives. For many of us, it has been. However, feeling safe, seen and protected has never changed on the pregnancy and postpartum journey. You haven’t lost sight of that and neither have we.

As I was glued to my television screen yesterday, on January 20, 2021, watching President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic inauguration to take the reigns of our country and lead us onward to healing, unity and democracy, I felt safe - for the first time in a long time - and I hope you did too. I was wearing my pearls and my pajamas, which to me symbolize the heft and history of the moment of our first Black and South Asian woman Vice President, as well as, the comfort and relief of moving toward a place where we can all feel welcome in our country.

I do not expect that everyone will “just get along” overnight. Rather, I imagine it will be like the stages of labor where progress can be painful but without it we are in limbo between our lives as they are and our lives as we want them to be. Speaking of safety, we’ve dedicated this newsletter to taking a deep-dive into the evidence around vaccines for pregnant and postpartum womxn. We asked the experts to weigh in on whether to vaccinate or not so that you could make the best and most intuitive choice for yourself, your body and your baby.

I’m also thrilled to welcome a new voice to our newsletter, Ruthie Ackerman, Poppy’s Editor-in-Chief as she shares her story to parenthood with all its twists and turns and ups and downs.

How I’m feeling right now is probably similar to how so many of you feel too. In this hodgepodge of a year (so far) let’s throw on our pearls and pajamas -  and get to rebuilding and renewing - together.

With Love,

Simmone