Tiffany chang
Westridge School for Girls, CA
Attending Stanford University
Founder Mad Hatter Knits
15 million babies are born prematurely ever year. 41,095 babies each day. 29 babies ever minute. Tiffany has made it her mission to raise awareness and support the moms of these babies. As she says: "Attending an all girls school and being raised by primarily female role models, I discovered early that women's healthcare, specifically pregnancy, is understudied and underfunded. In fourth grade I founded Mad Hatter Knits. A nonprofit org dedicated to knitting beanies to support babies in the NICU and empower pregnant women in low-income areas for the past seven years.
Mad Hatter Knits has allowed me to advocate for maternal and child health; fulfilling my mission to dismantle barriers society still places on women and infant health care. I started to form campus chapters at different local schools and later formed chapters in different universities. Ma Hatter Knits soon expanded nationally to different states and globally to different countries including Sri Lanka, Ecuador, and India to educate and advocate for the worldwide issue of maternal and infant health.
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My identity is bound with Mad Hatter Knits growth. I was able to standardize the process for forming new chapters to aid each one in functioning independently and empower the members to nurture their leadership skill to impact their local communities. When the pandemic hit, I utilized my biological knowledge to formulate research, reach out to medical professionals, and create sustainable campaigns about COVID-19's impact on maternal care, mental health, and even nutrition. I analyzed birth experiences using an inductive and deductive approach. I ultimately delivered protection care kits and worked with over 1,700 families and underfunded clinics and local hospitals. It has taken a maternal health campaign, a pandemic, 35 interviews, a global expansion for Mad Hatters, and some community college courses to create a dent in my question of why women are still living in inequity in health care.
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The myriad of pregnancy scares uncovered during the pandemic along with the knowledge gained from researchers through my podcast born to bump have made me passionate about maternal health care equity. Six years later Mad Hatter Knits has gained a respectable presence in the service learning community, and its efforts have gained recognition from government officials and cities. However it was the gratitude we received from mothers that enlivened the purpose of our project. This small step continues to fuel my fire to constantly seek knowledge and convey important messages to the public.
Regardless of the failure or success of these experiences I have had with Mad Hatter Knits had shown me that the unmet need is what motivates me to step outside of the box, pursue with diligence timely impacts from converging multiple disciplines, and engage myself in diverse experiential learnings. I am enamored with pursing knowledge to finding a path toward maternal health care equity.