Expert can discuss aspects of Gov. Northam's budget proposal to combat maternal mortality

Cathryn Molloy, professor of writing, rhetoric and technical communication, is available to discuss the significance of Governor Ralph Northam’s announcement to combat maternal and infant mortality and reduce the racial disparity in Virginia’s maternal mortality rate.

The proposed plan, announced Monday, Dec. 9, aims to eliminate the racial disparity in Virginia’s maternal mortality rate by 2025. Today’s budget proposals reflect months of input from mothers, medical professionals, doctors, and community advocates consulted as a result of this process.

“There are many accounts of individuals receiving inappropriate or inadequate care due to erroneous assumptions about their mental health status,” says Molloy. “It is dauntingly common to be wrongly diagnosed as having symptoms that are “in your head”—especially if you are a woman.”

Her research explores rhetorical ethos and its ongoing role in misdiagnoses stemming from gender, race and class-based biases. 

# # #