Monica R. McLemore

Monica Rose McLemore (born 1969) is an American nurse who is an associate professor of Family Health Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. Her work considers reproductive justice and medical care for marginalised communities, with an overarching aim to eliminate healthcare inequalities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, McLemore studied the impact of coronavirus disease during pregnancy.

Early life and education McLemore was born as a preemie (pre-term birth). She had no medical members of her family, but decided to become a nurse when she was eight years old.

Research and career McLemore studies the relationship between physical and mental health in low-income communities of colour. Her research makes use of reproductive justice theory; which argues that people who become pregnant have the right to decide how they want the birth to be.

McLemore was part of the preterm birth initiative (PTBi-California), which looks to understand why preterm births mainly occur in low-income women of colour. PTBi-California looks to mitigate for the disproportionate impact that preterm births have on already marginalised communities; and to work with physicians and educators to deserve programmes that better support these communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, McLemore studied the impact of coronavirus disease during pregnancy, and why Black Americans were hardest hit by the disease. In an article for Scientific American, she argued that the coronavirus disease was not an excuse to abandon pregnant women.

Awards and honours 2015 American College of Nurse Midwives Teaching Award 2015 Speaking Race to Power Fellow 2018 Abortion Care Network Person of the Year 2019 Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing 2019 Excellence in Leadership Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses

Selected publications

McLemore has written for Vice, San Francisco Chronicle and Scientific American.