CGTN America
Global Business producer Alexandra Lowy and correspondent Karina Huber were in L.A. to accept the award.
CGTN America is honored to receive a 2018 Gracie Award for ‘Forgotten Mothers’ – a Global Business story focusing on the dramatic increase of maternal deaths in the United States.
Presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF), The Gracies recognize individual achievement and exemplary programming created by, for and about women in all facets of media and entertainment.
Reported by CGTN correspondent Karina Huber for the show Global Business, ‘Forgotten Mothers’ tells the story of Lauren Bloomstein, a young mother and neo-natal nurse who unexpectedly died 20 hours after giving birth.
Despite having a husband who was a doctor and being treated at the hospital where she worked, Lauren had fallen victim to severe preeclampsia – a condition that accounts for seven percent of maternal deaths in the U.S.
‘Forgotten Mothers’ explores how tragic stories like Lauren’s have become more common in the U.S. than in most of the developing world.
Alexandra Lowy and Karina Huber accept
Gracie award for ‘Forgotten Mothers’
CGTN is very proud to have had creators @LEXAL82 and @KKAT31 accepting their award for ‘Forgotten Mothers’ at the #GRACIES in LA this week. Learn more about the producers and this important story https://t.co/d18XiZ1wB9 pic.twitter.com/q45JYCyP1F
— CGTN America (@cgtnamerica) May 24, 2018
Responding to this year’s award, Global Business producer Alexandra Lowy, also said:
“We are extremely proud to represent our profession and shine a much-needed light on the critical topic of maternal mortality. As four working moms, this segment was incredibly personal for us”.
Watch ‘Forgotten Mothers’
As a part of this broadcast segment, Global Business also featured an in depth discussion on the U.S.’ maternal mortality rates with health policy expert, Dr. Barbara Levy.
Dr. Barbara Levy explains why the US has such a high maternal mortality rate
For more on why the U.S. has such a high maternal mortality rate compared to other industrialized countries, CGTN’s Rachelle Akuffo spoke to Dr. Barbara Levy, vice president for Health Policy at the Advocacy Division of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
More about ‘Forgotten Mothers’
Lauren Bloomstein was one of the last mothers anyone expected to die. She was a neo-natal nurse; Her husband was a doctor, and she gave birth in the hospital where she worked. Lauren had the best maternity care money could buy, yet it still wasn’t enough. Twenty hours after giving birth, Lauren suffered a devastating stroke and died. Despite all his medical training, Larry couldn’t save his wife. “She looked at me and said ‘I love you’ and that was it. That was the last thing she ever said.”
Lauren had severe preeclampsia – a disorder that accounts for roughly seven percent of maternal deaths in the United States. Women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die of this condition than Canadians – and six times more likely than Scandinavians. In ‘Forgotten Mothers‘, CGTN’s Karina Huber and Rachelle Akuffo examine why more women die from pregnancy complications in the U.S. than in any other industrialized country.
‘Forgotten Mothers’ was produced for CGTN America by:
Rachelle Akuffo
Karina Huber
Alexandra Lowy
Megan Pratz
RT Warfield – Executive Producer
More about The Gracies
Winners of this year’s Gracie awards were honored at a gala in Los Angeles on May 22, and a luncheon taking place June 27 in New York City.
Other recipients from this year include TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, HBO and Oprah Winfrey’s original TV movie ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Sacks’, and VICE News Tonight’s “Charlottesville: Race & Terror.” This year’s Gracie Award will be CGTN America’s first.
A full list of honorees can be found here: 2018 Gracie Award Winners.
