On a brisk Thursday morning, 65 first-year students sat in rapt attention in NS 1600 Introduction to Public Health as Jennie Joseph challenged conventional thinking with a powerful concept: materno-toxic zones. She described these as environments so harmful to pregnant or new mothers that they threaten the safety of the mother and/or her children.
"Think about a problem that you or your loved ones had with the health system and why," urged Joseph, founder and president of Commonsense Childbirth and this year's Cornell Human Ecology Flemmie Kittrell Visiting Scholar. "You can all think of a moment when things didn't go right. Human rights are violated when you do not get equitable care with respect and dignity."
When class ended, students formed a line to speak with Joseph one-on-one. She met each student with focus and warmth, hallmarks of the empathy and courage that earned her a 2022 Time Women of the Year recognition.
"As someone on the pre-med track with an interest in the medical field and community health, it was amazing to hear about her approach and the dramatic decrease in preterm and low-birth-weight babies," said Isabella Alley '29, a Global and Public Health Sciences major. "Just imagine what the health outcomes could be if we could expand that approach across the U.S.? It is really inspiring for me to take that type of framework with me into school and beyond."
