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Helen Rodriguez-Trias: A Champion for Women’s Health Equity

Updated: Mar 26


Black and white photograph of Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias, a Latina physician and public health advocate, sitting at a desk in a medical office. She is wearing a white lab coat over a turtleneck sweater, smiling warmly while looking at the camera. Papers, books, and a pair of glasses rest on
NIH — photograph by Rafael Pesquera

Women’s History Month is a time to honor women who have shaped history. Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias was a doctor and activist who worked to ensure that all women—especially those in poor and rural communities—had access to good healthcare.


She understood what it meant to struggle for equal opportunities. Growing up in Puerto Rico and New York, she faced discrimination in school, labeled a slow learner simply for being Puerto Rican. These early injustices shaped her mission to advocate for underserved communities.


Fighting for Maternal and Infant Health

Black and white photograph of Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias in a white uniform speaking with a group of women, including a mother holding her baby. The setting appears to be a medical or community health facility, with women gathered in a hallway, attentively listening. The image captures Dr. Rodriguez-Trias’ dedication to maternal and infant health, likely during her work in Puerto Rico in the 1960s.
Speaking to new mothers, ca. 1963, Library of Congress, photograph by Jim Hansen – NIH

As a medical student, Dr. Rodriguez-Trias saw firsthand how wealthy patients received better care, while working-class women had little access to prenatal care or safe childbirth. Determined to change this, she opened Puerto Rico’s first neonatal care unit, reducing infant deaths and improving maternal health.


Beyond hospitals, she built community health programs, ensuring families in low-income neighborhoods had access to education and care. She also fought against forced sterilization, which robbed many Puerto Rican women of reproductive choice.


A Lasting Impact on Rural Communities

Dr. Rodriguez-Trias spent her life working in Puerto Rico, New York, and California, always advocating for the poor and underserved. She believed healthcare wasn’t just about medicine but about empowering communities to demand better treatment.


Her mission remains relevant today. Many families in rural Central Texas still face barriers to healthcare, fewer doctors and limited health education. That’s why Rural Whole Health Coalition works to ensure all women, no matter where they live, receive the care they deserve.


“I hope I’ll see in my lifetime a growing realization that we are one world.”


— Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias


This Women’s History Month, we honor her legacy and continue the fight for health equity in every community.

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