Pregnant in Alabama: Poetry, Storytelling, and the Maternal Health Crisis

Put on by the DiscourseBHAM Public Lecture Series.

The United States is in the midst of a maternal health crisis, and Alabama is at its epicenter. The statistics are staggering—but numbers alone can’t tell the full story. Too often, the voices of mothers, the ones living this reality, are left unheard.

In this powerful and thought-provoking talk, social worker Dr. Haley Beech moves beyond the data, using poetry to illuminate the personal experiences behind the numbers. Through verse and storytelling, she invites us to listen—to truly hear—the stories that statistics can’t capture. This is more than a lecture; it’s an opportunity to engage with the lived realities of pregnant people in Alabama, to reflect on the urgency of the crisis, and to recognize the power of personal narratives in shaping change. Women have powerful stories to tell. We just need to be open to hearing them.

Dr. Haley Beech is an adjunct instructor at the University of Alabama Honors College. She earned her PhD in social work in 2023 and her Master’s in social work in 2013 from the University of Alabama. A licensed master social worker, Haley provides perinatal mental health services at Taproot Therapy Collective. Her passion for this work is rooted in her lived experiences and the many untold stories of mothers’ trauma before, during, and after childbirth. Haley is a social worker, feminist writer, researcher, poet, mother, partner, and friend. She lives in Alabaster, Alabama, with her two children and miniature schnauzer.