ParentData with Emily Oster

ParentData
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ParentData with Emily Oster

Parenting is full of decisions — starting the moment you learn you’re pregnant (sometimes before) and continuing indefinitely. For the past decade, Emily Oster has been a guide through the challenges of pregnancy and parenthood using data. She translates the latest scientific research into answers to the questions people have in their day-to-day lives. ParentData brings Emily together with other experts in areas of pregnancy and parenting to talk about some of the most complicated of these issues, from labor induction to food allergies to parenting through a divorce. Each conversation brings us closer to Emily’s mission: to create the most informed generation of parents by providing high-quality data that they can trust, whenever they need it.

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    It’s Not Hysteria: How women’s health gets overlooked

    We don’t all get to learn about vaginas in school or from our families or from creating a reputation as the "Vagina Economist." And quite frankly, this is to our detriment. But today on ParentData, we’re trying to make some progress on that. We're joined by Dr. Karen Tang, a minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon (think: disorders like endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome), who is tearing up social media with her women’s health education. Her book, It’s Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (but Were Never Told), and it’s exactly what it sounds like — a user manual for anyone with a female reproductive system.  In this conversation, we discuss how to talk to your doctor and how to make the most of your time with them, the lack of data on women’s health, why Karen feels strongly about reclaiming the word “hysteria” when it comes to health for women, and what it means to study women’s pain as opposed to...pain (?). External links: The Menopause Society WPATH Childfree Subreddit Doctor Recommendations Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.

    46 min

  2. 14 NOV

    It's The Placenta Episode!

    Pop quiz: what’s the only organ that you grow from nothing and then casually discard, that magically bosses around your hormones, and actually your entire body, and that is actually made up of two different people’s cells?  Obviously it’s the placenta. Less obvious is how completely awesome it is. We're all wrapped up in this new baby on our chest, and since the placenta is so easy to deliver, relatively, and so gross to look at, we forget how incredible it is, and how absolutely crucial for the health of your baby. So today on ParentData, we’re going to finally give it its due. We've invited Dr. Gillian Goddard back for a mini episode to talk about all things placenta. We’re going to follow its journey through conception to pregnancy to delivery and - if you’re so inclined - beyond, and answer any of the questions you might have about this truly magical and sadly ephemeral organ.  Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.

    29 min

  3. 7 NOV

    Racial Disparity in C-Section Rates: Unpacking bias in the medical system

    When we talk about C-sections, it’s often prefaced with “unplanned” or “emergency.” About a third of all the deliveries in the U.S. are cesarean sections, and only about 16% of those are planned. And that leaves a lot of mothers in a position where they’re delivering differently than they planned or intended to. And in the U.S., a disproportionate number of those are being performed on black women. So how are we going to get to the root of what's going on?  Today on ParentData, we're joined by Molly Schnell, whose paper “Drivers of Racial Differences in C-Sections” explores this phenomenon. Molly is an assistant professor of economics at Northwestern University and her paper found that black mothers with unscheduled deliveries are 25% more likely to deliver by C-section than white mothers. And she argues that implicit racial bias among providers or possibly even a financial incentive in hospitals to fill their operating rooms may play a role in this racial gap. Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting. ParentData is generously supported by Honeycomb.

    40 min

  4. 31 OCT

    Ultra-Processed Foods: What they are and whether we should worry

    There is nothing in the world of nutrition more confusing than ultra-processed foods. Seemingly every week, there is a new headline about the dangers of ultra-processed foods and their links to things like heart disease, dementia, and death. Today on ParentData, Emily reads her recent article on ultra-processed foods and provides some tips for smart food - and headline - consumption. The article at ParentData.org Photos of the meals from the study Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.

    16 min

  5. 24 OCT

    The Power of Local Politics: How Vermont is revolutionizing child care

    In the run-up to November 5th, it's easy to feel hopeless about the state of our national discourse, and what any single one of us can do to make a difference. That's when we need to look local, where it feels like things can actually change, and where the people who are trying to make the changes feel approachable but, often, no less inspiring.  Today on ParentData, we're joined by Aly Richards, the CEO of Let's Grow Kids. They're on a mission to ensure affordable access to high quality child care for all Vermont families by 2025 - and they've actually done a lot of it. In June of 2023, the Vermont legislature made history by passing a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive child care bill into law, with overwhelming support from across the political spectrum. This bill supports child care through subsidies in both directions, to families and also to child care providers, and it provides a model for other states to hopefully follow.  In this conversation, we talk about grassroots mobilization, about clipboards at county fairs, about knocking on doors and how important that is. We talk about the economics of change. We give the cold, hard capitalist case for child care and for child care subsidies, and explain how child care actually pays for itself, if you take a long enough perspective. Get ready to be inspired.  Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting. ParentData is generously supported by: Honeycomb Skylight (Use code PARENTDATA for 15% off your Calendar purchase!) StrollerCoaster podcast Whole Foods Market

    44 min

  6. 17 OCT

    Steve Levitt's Late-Night Panic Google

    Freakonomics economist Professor Steve Levitt joins to weave a thrilling tale about worms in poop, and advocating for your child. Warning: this late-night panic Google is not for the faint of heart. Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.

    13 min

  7. 10 OCT

    All About Midwives: What they do, and how they differ from OBs

    Midwives are having a bit of a moment. Of course, that moment is not at all new. For a very, very long time, — hundreds, possibly thousands, of years — midwives, or people who were effectively midwives, were delivering all babies. Even when “doctor” became a more formal job, births were still nearly always attended by midwives.  At some point, though, especially in the U.S., that changed. Midwifery attendance went way, way down, although it's starting to see an uptick. And it's because the data supports that there are benefits to having a midwife rather than having a doctor at birth, that spontaneous vaginal birth — birth without a vacuum or forceps — increases in the care of a midwife. Cesarean sections decrease, and so do episiotomies. Today on ParentData, we're joined by Ann Ledbetter, a certified nurse-midwife, to help us understand why. We talk about differences and similarities between midwives and OBs and doulas, epidurals, home births, and the difference between health care in the U.S. and elsewhere. And we also take time to talk about the holistic process of birth and how cool it is.  Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting. ParentData is generously supported by: Honeycomb Skylight (Use code PARENTDATA for 15% off your Calendar purchase!) StrollerCoaster podcast Whole Foods Market

    44 min

  8. 3 OCT

    Shawn Johnson's Late-Night Panic Google

    Gymnast and Olympic gold-medalist Shawn Johnson describes the panic of international emergencies, advocating for your children in French, and why she hopes her kids never become gymnasts themselves. Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.

    15 min
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Parenting is full of decisions — starting the moment you learn you’re pregnant (sometimes before) and continuing indefinitely. For the past decade, Emily Oster has been a guide through the challenges of pregnancy and parenthood using data. She translates the latest scientific research into answers to the questions people have in their day-to-day lives. ParentData brings Emily together with other experts in areas of pregnancy and parenting to talk about some of the most complicated of these issues, from labor induction to food allergies to parenting through a divorce. Each conversation brings us closer to Emily’s mission: to create the most informed generation of parents by providing high-quality data that they can trust, whenever they need it.

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