A study was done by Mizzou nursing faculty member Tina Bloom showing that young mothers in rural areas experience excess stress due to their lack of transportation, un-employment and social isolation. The study showed that this added level of stress had a more negative affect on the overall health of both mother and child than health providers originally thought. You can read the research story here: http://bit.ly/1dxZkYO It was disappointing that the family I visually told the story through is just a small part of the written piece, but the freelance writer had already finished her story before we were able to identify subjects who would give me the access I needed to tell the story visually.

I spent over three weeks documenting this young family in Moberly Missouri dealing with the stressors that Bloom identified in her study.