and Claudia Rivera Cotto with

“It’s normal to feel nervous,” Brown assured her. “You want to be open to the entire process. You got this. You can do it!”Brown said she’s constantly awed by her patients’ strength. She recalled a teen just out of jail who overcame addiction and wound up giving birth vaginally without pain medication.

Joseph has no intention of returning to Europe. She has started a midwifery school, put together training programs for other health care professionals and convenes a national group of professionals and advocates who share ideas to improve maternal health and eliminate disparities over videoconference.She figures America needs her more.“This is literally my life’s work,” she said. “I’m not stopping until it’s done.”

This story is the first in a two-part series examining how the United States could curb deaths from pregnancy and childbirth.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

NEW YORK (AP) — An Alabama woman is recovering well after a

last month that freed her from eight years of dialysis, the latest effort to save human lives with animal organs.Vaccine manufacturers plan to issue updated COVID-19 shots in the late summer or fall. But the Food and Drug Administration has said it plans to limit approval of seasonal shots to seniors and others at high risk, pending more studies of everyone else.

Even if the U.S. approves vaccines only for certain groups, it still may be possible for others to get the shot depending on the outcome of upcoming advisory meetings, regulatory moves and decisions from insurers and employers.Insurers base coverage decisions on the recommendations of that CDC panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. It’s not clear what role that panel now will play. Paying out of pocket could cost about $200.

The CDC says its new language for healthy kids and pregnant women — known as shared decision-making — means health insurers must pay for the vaccinations.Some insurers and employers may decide to still cover the shots no matter what, said Jen Kates, a senior vice president at the non-profit KFF, which studies health care issues. She noted that they may view the expense as worthwhile if it avoids a higher bill from someone hospitalized by the coronavirus.