A University of Minnesota study investigating climate change and racial inequities is seeing a link between global warming and racial disparities, MPR News' Sarah Gelbard reports.
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Sarah Sanchez and her 1-year-old daughter Edith. | Evan Frost, MPR News |
Sarah Sanchez had a healthy pregnancy at 24 weeks. And then one especially hot day last summer, something didn’t feel right. She needed to take breaks during her walk. At first, she thought it might be the heat, getting to her.
“I had a feeling that something felt different with my pregnancy,” she said. “Something felt different — just with my body, and being so attuned to it, and paying attention — I knew that we were headed to something wrong.”
Something was wrong. Sanchez was in early labor. She was rushed to the hospital where she gave birth to her daughter Edith, who weighed just 1 pound and 9 ounces.
Preterm births occur year-round. Many factors can lead to preterm labor and birth. A specific medical reason is not always given, and it is concerning. Premature infants are more at risk for developing life-threatening medical conditions or chronic health issues.
Researchers at the U of M's School of Public Health combined more than 150,000 birth records with temperature data in the Twin Cities over several years. Their most troubling finding was that college-educated Black women appeared more susceptible to health risks after heat wave exposure. They were 1.27 times more likely to experience premature labor and birth than white women without a college education.
Smith and Hardeman said that increased risk is significant. And it might have something to do with a phenomenon known as “the weathering effect.” [To learn more, read the full story]
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Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm at a press conference in November 2020. | Christine T. Nguyen, MPR News 2020 |
Some Republicans in the Minnesota Senate don't like that Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm is pro-vaccine and pro-mask. At a rally against both safety measures last weekend at the Minnesota Capitol, Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, told crowds that firing Malcolm is now an option. If he and other Senate Republicans follow through with the threat, Malcolm would be the fourth Walz commissioner forced out. Here's that story.
Abeler also pointed to "safety" concerns with the vaccine, claiming that more than 200 Minnesotans have died from the vaccine. That number isn't true. MPR News' data repoter David Montgomery breaks down the number, where Abeler got it from and what it really means.
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Deadly force under review: A Minnesota judge heard arguments Monday from police groups seeking to overturn a new use-of-deadly force law while state attorneys asked to have the challenge thrown out. A quick ruling is expected.
COVID testing: Kids across Minnesota are heading back to school in the midst of rising COVID-19 cases. Demand for testing is increasing, too, causing the state and health care providers to expand testing options just months after they started to wind them down.
Weather: Another gorgeous, sunny day today with highs mostly in the 70s.
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