Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez

It’s Prematurity Awareness Month, but it’s the first time I’ve ever paid attention. Previously I’d heard discussions around preemies and even had a couple of them in my own family. But I didn’t understand the implications of what it means to be born premature until recently.
During my first pregnancy, I believed that the No. 1 predictor for my birth experience would be the amount of research I did. I expected the second predictor to be my willingness to adapt to change as a parent. I was in m...

Our guest blogger Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez is expecting - and she's sharing her plan to ensure her daughter lives a body positive life.
The bond between mother and daughter is one I have seen exalted - and commercialized - for as long as I could remember. Your daughter is your “mini-me”, and the portrayal of that relationship has often felt fetishized. But when I found out I was expecting a girl, I was more fearful than excited.
The romanticized images are cute, but I’m afraid of the respons...

Why are some Black menstruators so disgusted by menstrual cups?
In this op-ed, A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez explores why Black people see more averse to alternative menstrual management methods, like the menstrual cup.
Growing up, no one ever explicitly told me not to talk about my period out loud. But it always felt clearly implied. In the event it was necessary, it was definitely inappropriate for “mixed company.”
Menstruation wasn’t something you celebrated. At the same time, it wasn’t som...

How we see the world shapes who we choose to be — and sharing compelling experiences can frame the way we treat each other, for the better. This is a powerful perspective.
During her time in the White House, former first lady Michelle Obama brought Black women’s narratives and unique experiences into the spotlight.
Now, Obama continues to shed light on Black women’s experiences. In her new book, “Becoming,” she reveals that she had a miscarriage and used in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to concei...

(Editor’s note: This content is provided by The John A. Hartford Foundation, a Next Avenue sponsor.)
Jodi Savage was her grandmother’s caretaker in her last days. Like many black Americans, her grandmother’s cultural beliefs and religious background led to very little discussion around the end of life. Culturally speaking, black Americans on the whole tend to avoid discussing end-of-life topics for fear of speaking things into existence. Focus is placed on making the best of the time you’re g...

Shortly after graduating from college, I moved in with my grandparents. My grandmother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and I was in need of housing. So I temporarily became one of her caregivers. My stint in caretaking only lasted a few months before I moved across the country to be with my fiance, but it was an experience I will never forget.
Going into it, I imagined myself helping with shopping and food prep and offering medication reminders, all of which I ended up doing. But what I ...

“Come on, Chubs, let’s go to the store.”
My son and I were accompanying an older family friend to Walmart with the mission of finding a memory card for her laptop. I enjoyed hanging out with her, and going to the store to help her with technology was a good deed. But I hadn’t expected that this everyday experience would turn into one of many introductory lessons for my son on privilege.
“Rhino,” he whined reaching for his favorite stuffed companion.
“Sorry, baby. We can’t take Rhino in the st...

Image: Bob Al-Greene / Mashable
Welcome to Small Humans, an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and deal with – the kids in your life. Because Dr. Spock is nice and all, but it’s 2018 and we have the entire internet to contend with.
Now more than ever, it’s particularly evident that children need to be exposed to diversity as young as possible. It’s a topic that can inspire hesitation among a lot of parents, but setting the foundation for inclusivity isn’t as hard a...

Less than two months ago, I celebrated my third Black Breastfeeding Week. Since first hearing about the holiday in 2016, I have grown as a mother, spent a ton of time researching, and have gotten pregnant again. I am now awaiting my second breastfeeding journey.
We know all about the benefits of breastfeeding. But things need to change to increase Black breastfeeding rates.
Black women have the lowest rates of initiation out of any race group. On average, Black women breastfeed for 6.5 weeks,...

October 12
I’ve never been thin, so I won’t say that I’ve ever benefited from thin privilege. But I have been fortunate enough to have an hourglass figure, and that has always been a commodity for me as a black woman. Truthfully, for the first half of my life, my body was frequently a source of discomfort because it brought the wrong kind of attention. As early as elementary school, I was on the receiving end of a variety of objectifying comments that would make any person, let alone a pretee...

The call to increase diversity is more prevalent than ever before. It’s in the workplace, in our television shows and, of course, in our news feeds. Yet, surprisingly, so few of us understand what diversity is or why it truly matters — and even more importantly, why inclusion is an important value to pass onto our children.
For instance, did you know that as early as two years old, children notice racial, gender and other identity-based differences? The younger we start educating children on ...

Welcome to Small Humans, an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and deal with – the kids in your life. Because Dr. Spock is nice and all, but it’s 2018 and we have the entire internet to contend with.
During my first pregnancy, I craved a mamaRoo rocker, believing it would alleviate my stress as a new mom. Unfortunately, a gadget with that kind of price tag just wasn’t in our budget. Instead, I did things the old-fashioned way, rocking my baby in my arms and using b...