Lauren M. Whaley
Center for Health Reporting
Lauren M. Whaley is a photographer, radio producer and print reporter specializing in topics related to mental illness, reproductive health care and health disparities. She is also a childbirth photographer.
This year, she is working on a series about how low-income parents access care for perinatal mental illnesses. The project is funded by the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism.
Whaley was a 2016-17 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology.
Her work has been recognized by the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX) STEM story project. She has contributed radio, video, photography and written stories to KQED Public Radio, Southern California Public Radio, the San Jose Mercury News, the New York Times and other media outlets. For six years, I worked as the Center for Health Reporting's multimedia journalist, based in Los Angeles. She is a past president of the national organization Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) and spent her early 20s leading canoe expeditions for young women, including a solo-led 45-trip in the Canadian Arctic.
Ask Emily Live: How the "kid glitch" in employer-based health insurance can hurt you
September 23, 2013Ask Emily columnist Emily Bazar explains Obamacare at a public forum in Modesto. This is a short video clip from that event.
Ask Emily Live: What health plan choices does Covered California offer?
September 23, 2013Ask Emily columnist Emily Bazar explains Obamacare at a public forum in Modesto. This is a short video clip from that event.
Ask Emily Live: Can't I just wait and buy insurance when I get sick?
September 23, 2013Ask Emily columnist Emily Bazar explains Obamacare at a public forum in Modesto. This is a short video clip from that event.
Normalizing Mental Illness: One Mom's Hope (Multimedia)
September 16, 2013Photography Gallery: Faces of Mental Illness
September 16, 2013Everyone pictured here has a mental illness. They live in this community. A daughter. An uncle. A sister. A friend. A neighbor. A co-worker.
Update: Midwifery bill moves on to governor’s desk
September 13, 2013After months of negotiations, including major amendments added just a week ago, a bill aiming to improve care for women giving birth outside the hospital passed unanimously Thursday night.
California's licensed midwives push for more responsibility
September 11, 2013Recession (still) impacting Medi-Cal expansion
August 6, 2013It may now be in our rearview mirror, but the Great Recession is impacting California’s Medi-Cal expansion, slated to start with Obamacare in January.
CA teen births continue to drop. Still high in San Joaquin Valley
July 18, 2013Today’s teenagers aren’t having as many babies as their counterparts did 10 and 20 years ago.
California’s generous maternity leave benefits sometimes unknown to working parents
June 6, 2013For parents of newborns – or those expecting one – congratulations! And start planning.
Ask Emily: A new column answering questions about Obamacare
April 9, 2013What is this Obamacare-related state health insurance thing called Covered California? How do I find out if it works for me? And if I’m healthy and young, say 28, do I need to get health insurance?
Born again after trying to end it all
March 14, 2013Preventing subsequent suicide attempts one phone call at a time
March 14, 2013Cal State San Marcos launches new palliative care course for chaplains
February 26, 2013Father Calin Tamiian hopes one day spirituality will be recognized as a vital sign.
Medicare announces medical equipment prices for expanded competitive bidding program
January 31, 2013The prices are in.
If you’re on Medicare, you will soon be getting your pack of mail-order diabetic test strips and lancets for about 72 percent less than you get them now.
Medicare says medical equipment costs down under pilot program in San Bernardino
January 4, 2013Study: Our couches are poisonous
November 28, 2012I inherited the big foam gray chair during my junior year of college. The guy who gave it to me got it from a friend a few years before and she had been given it by a friend as well. It was meant to be passed on eventually.
Clinics will continue surging, prepping for January 2014
November 14, 2012Dr. Paul Gregerson says November 7, the day after the election, was a “very good day in my life.”
‘Last distraction’ removed as California moves ahead on health reform
November 8, 2012Community health centers on the rise in California
November 1, 2012Getting fit one burrito at a time
October 25, 2012Adriana Churchwell serves me up a lunchtime veggie burrito with guacamole several times a week at the Qdoba restaurant across the street from my Alhambra office.
Palliative care institute to educate workforce, community
September 20, 2012When my cousin with advanced melanoma started receiving palliative care at her home, I thought it was hospice. I was wrong.
Eligibility requirements haunt elderly at adult day health centers
September 5, 2012Irene Nashtut’s adult day health care center lost 62 clients this spring. They have not exactly wandered off, or been recruited by a rival center. They have been declared ineligible.
Adult Day Health Care, exploring the state’s side
August 29, 2012“Those that can stand up, please stand up. Those that cannot stand up, please sing along with us.”
Who's eligible? State, advocates are at odds over ADHC's disabled, elderly
August 28, 2012Pumping in Peace
August 2, 2012California faces headwinds in easing doctor shortages
June 29, 2012The Supreme Court’s validation of President Obama’s landmark health law sets off a scramble across California to find enough primary care doctors and other professionals to serve an estimated 3 milli
Ruling green-lights California’s aggressive move on health reform
June 28, 2012What mental illness looks like
June 7, 2012I assembled my makeshift photo studio in a windowless office just big enough for a desk and two chairs. Wax paper covered the Home Depot work lights. Electrical tape held up the white sheet I had borrowed from my Modesto hotel room.