Why The Five & One?
Because women make up 51% of the population, yet still get treated like a special interest group. This newsletter flips that script. Each issue gives you 5 smart takeaways from the world of research, policy, health, wellness, and trends +1 bonus topic just for you.
The topics covered this week are not only timely - they were curated with you in mind. We’ve been hearing from members about what’s on your minds and the health issues that matter most to you. We heard, and we wrote.
Speaking of hearing from you, some announcements before we dive in:
December 10: Join our Chief Design & Impact Officer, Kristin James, for our first community event. We’ll share how we’re building impact — from fixing care deserts to addressing reimbursement gaps and the inequities that make women disproportionately affected across so many conditions. Register here.
If you want to hear what’s coming next, please join us. And if you’ve been waiting to understand the work before becoming a member, now’s the time — we’re still in lifetime-membership territory (for now).
Last Call: Today is the final day of our winter merch drop. The 51& Shop closes at midnight, and every purchase helps fuel our impact. Thank you to everyone who’s already supported us — we can’t wait to see you in your 51& gear. (Gift memberships are in the shop, too.) Shop the drop!
01. A Policy Proposal that Meets a Moment of Rage
It was pretty hard to miss the social media outrage after the widely shared case of Mercedes Wells, a Black woman who was discharged from a hospital while in active labor and gave birth in her car shortly after. But for once, the outrage was met with action.
The WELLS Act, recently introduced by Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-02), requires hospitals and birthing centers to create a “Safe Discharge Labor Plan” before releasing any patient in labor, including clinical justification for discharge, travel-time assessment, patient understanding, and documentation.
The Breakdown
Many hospitals lack standardized, holistic labor-discharge procedures — a risk for anyone with long travel times or limited transportation.
Hospitals serving Black and low-income patients often face staffing, funding, and infrastructure gaps that worsen outcomes. PMC+2PMC+2
The Breakthrough
By requiring “Safe Discharge Labor Plans,” the WELLS Act would standardized discharge criteria and documentation would make unsafe discharge visible — and addressable.
If passed, the WELLS Act could shift maternal-health policy from reactive to proactive — embedding equity, bias training, and safety protocols into standard care. This sets a precedent for equitable maternal care nationwide.
This act recognizes that hospitals serving marginalized communities need more support, funding, staffing, training, and oversight. This can help reduce disparities rooted in infrastructure and resource gaps.
The legislation is framed as part of broader efforts to address maternal-health disparities, especially the disproportionate harm faced by Black women in the U.S. KLCC+1
As the WELLS Act moves through Congress, expect debates around hospital burden and equity requirements — and expect us to follow every step, especially how it could reshape care for Black women.
02. Another Policy Win, This One for Families on the Go
The BABES (Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening) Enhancement Act was signed into law last week. Introduced by Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), this policy standardizes how TSA screens breast milk, formula, and other infant feeding supplies for air travel. (We hope you’re also noticing that when women hold policy power, policy starts to reflect what women need).
The Breakdown
Emily Calandrelli,who was delayed and forced to check her breast milk and ice packs at LAX, which contradicted existing TSA policies that allow these medically necessary items.
Inconsistent TSA experiences, airline restrictions, and lack of pumping accommodations cause women to discard milk, skip pumping sessions, or stop breastfeeding early because of the challenges presented.
A nationally representative survey showed that 61% of breastfeeding parents experienced travel-related obstacles that jeopardized supply.
The Breakthrough
Emily Calandrelli authored the BABES Act to require clear, standardized TSA rules for screening breast milk, formula, and pumping equipment.
By addressing airport and airline barriers, the act treats breastfeeding as part of infrastructure, recognizing that women lose breastfeeding continuity when the system isn’t designed for them.
It strengthens the foundation laid by the PUMP Act and expands protections for traveling families..
03. New York’s Maternal Health State of Mind
New York State just issued its findings and recommendations addressing Maternal Mental Health. Maternal mental health conditions (including overdose and death by suicide) are the leading cause of pregnancy-related death in the U.S., based on CDC Maternal Mortality Review Committee data. This is a crisis we aren’t talking about nearly enough.
The Breakdown
The NY report finds that maternal mental health screening varies widely across prenatal, birthing, and pediatric care settings — with no standardized handoff between them.
The report highlights a “critical scarcity” of perinatal-trained mental health clinicians statewide.
NY’s review shows that Medicaid reimbursement for perinatal mental health is fragmented and often inadequate, especially for postpartum follow-up after 6–12 weeks.
The Breakthrough
NY recommends integrated, warm-handoff pathways connecting OB → psychiatry → primary care → community supports, reflecting a shift toward full-cycle maternal mental health care.
Recommendations include workforce expansion, reimbursement reform, universal screening, and cultural tailoring.
NY emphasizes maternal mental health data collection and quality measurement — a major gap nationally.
04. Another Challenge for Nurses
The Department of Education has updated its definition of what counts as a “professional degree” for purposes of federal student loan limits and support. Under this change, graduate-level nursing degrees (e.g. MSN, DNP) and many other allied-health/health-science degrees are excluded from the “professional degree” list.
As a result, nursing students and graduate-level nursing trainees will face lower federal loan caps — reducing access to financial support that many rely on to complete advanced education.
The Breakdown in the Making
Advanced-practice nurses (MSN, DNP — nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, etc.) fill essential gaps in primary care, maternal health, mental health, and rural care.
The U.S. already faces a documented shortage of nurses in many settings; research links inadequate RN staffing, high workloads, and nurse shortages to worse patient outcomes — including increased mortality, medical errors, longer stays, and lower quality care. AACN+2Effective Healthcare+2
Given existing shortages and burnout, further constriction of new advanced-nurse supply risks worsening resource deficits.
The change undermines nursing as a high-skill, essential profession and risks workforce diversity.
The Needed Breakthrough
A wake-up call to how reliant the U.S. health system is on a robust, educated nursing workforce. This re-classification spotlights the fragility of our staffing model, especially given aging populations, maternal health challenges, mental health crises, and primary-care deserts.
An opportunity (if challenged/reversed) to redefine federal support for nursing — as critical infrastructure, not optional specialization. The controversy underlines that nursing education and staffing are public-good investments, not private conveniences.
This moment may mobilize advocacy for loan forgiveness, better funding, and incentives for service in underserved areas.
05. Your New Healthcare BFF
When we first started talking to women about what’s missing in women’s health, we heard so much about taboo subjects and the topics that can feel overwhelming. You know, the things we sometimes don’t even talk to our closest friends about. So we’re excited to give space this week to Girlhood, a newsletter dedicated to getting real about mood swings, cramps, and everything in between. No sugarcoating, no shame — just honest stories & science-backed insights.
To give you a taste of what they do, we picked this article based on topics that keep coming up in our conversations with members - how autoimmune disease impacts our quality of life, the growing inequity of who can access care and who can’t, figuring out what kind of exercise you should be doing, and how the US is failing us on the birth front - this time with a D+ rating from the March of Dimes Preterm Birth Report Card.
The combination of statistics and first-person storytelling brings the system failures right into the day-to-day life in a refreshing way. It’s the group chat of our dreams.
And Your +1
Every once in a while, something comes across our desk, and it's the perfect combination of truth-bomb and much-needed humor. We know the more you learn about women’s health, the heavier it can feel. We’re so grateful that you make The Five & One a part of your reading ritual. So we leave you this week with the LOL that made the Team 51& rounds.
X post by @salaambhattiva