Every year, Black Maternal Health Week occurs from April 11-17. The Black Mamas Matter Alliance, which leads and founded this campaign, revealed this year’s theme is “‘Our Bodies STILL Belong to Us: Reproductive Justice NOW!’ Widespread restrictions on abortion care access coupled with rising cases of criminalization due to pregnancy loss continue to widen the gaps of adverse maternal and birth outcomes in the U.S.”
“More than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States are preventable,” and Black women are disproportionately dying. According to a CDC estimate from 2021, “the maternal mortality rate among Black women was nearly 70 deaths for every 100,000 live births. That is 2.6 times the rate for white women, regardless of income or education.”
A recent American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG) article claimed “that evidence of increased maternal mortality since 1999 may be overstated due to changes in the methodology used by the CDC to count how many people die annually from pregnancy-related causes.” But the CDC has spoken out against these assertions, countering that the AJOG substantially undercounted. But regardless of over- or under-inflation, this crisis becomes even more disturbing when one considers the fact that the United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates for a developed nation in the world.
During this year’s observance of BMHW, ESSENCE is highlighting these groups that are dedicated to improving maternal health outcomes for Black women.
Ancient Song Doula Services “is a national birth justice organization working to eliminate maternal and infant mortality and morbidity among Black and Latinx people. We provide doula training and services, offer community education, and advocate for policy change to support reproductive and birth justice.”
Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) “is a national network of Black women-led and Black-led, birth and reproductive justice organizations and multi-disciplinary professionals, working across the full-spectrum of maternal and reproductive health.”
The Black Maternal Health Caucus “is organized around the goals of elevating the Black maternal health crisis within Congress and advancing policy solutions to improve maternal health outcomes and end disparities.”
Black Supermamas is “a safe and transparent space created to support and uplift Black mothers as [they] navigate motherhood.” Their “purpose is to support the emotional, mental and physical well-being of every Black Mom by providing a space where we are seen and heard.”
The Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Research Institute “strive[s] to address health inequities and to discover ways to improve the lives of the racially and ethnically diverse women we serve in Harlem and across New York City…We have experts in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive science; population health science and policy; cardiology; psychiatry; and radiation oncology. We perform state-of-the-art research across the woman’s life span. Our goal is to fill in the knowledge gaps while also providing compassionate care for our patients.”
Irth is an app “fighting to end racism in maternity care…where you can find prenatal, birthing, postpartum and pediatric reviews of care from other Black and brown women.” It is a “‘Yelp-like’ platform for the pregnancy and new motherhood journey, made by and for people of color.”
Love Delivered is a new program from the partners of the founder of Carol’s Daughter and the Mama Glow Foundation committed to “empower[ing], support[ing] and equip[ping] Black birthing people and the greater community to advocate for their health and wellness by providing expanded access to doula services, trainings for doulas, and resources for families, birth workers, partners, and allies to be well-informed in supporting positive birthing experiences.”
Mama Glow is “New York’s premiere maternity lifestyle brand committed to supporting women along the childbearing continuum. We support women and families during the fertility period, during pregnancy, after birth and into new motherhood offering a full spectrum approach to holistic wellness. We are the first company to offer doula support at every stage along the childbearing continuum – including our premium fertility doula service for hopeful expectants.”
Mamatoto Village “is devoted to serving Black women through the creation of career pathways in maternal health; and providing accessible perinatal support services designed to equip women with the necessary tools to make the most informed decisions in their maternity care, parenting, and lives.”
MommiNation, founded by Olympic gold-medalist Sanya Richards-Ross, is a “platform to create a safe space for Black mom bloggers to share their experiences and become a virtual support system.” Their “commitment is to be open, vulnerable and real about the daily highs and lows of being a mother and everything in between. No topic will be off limits and no issue too small.”
MomsRising is “a transformative on-the-ground and online multicultural organization of more than a million members and over a hundred aligned organizations working to increase family economic security, to end discrimination against women and mothers, and to build a nation where both businesses and families can thrive.”
National Association to Advance Black Birth (NAABB) is a group working “to improve the care and treatment of Black women, infants and persons to combat the effects of structural racism on Black maternal-infant health through: advocacy, research, educational programming, activism and policy change; equipping birth workers (doulas, midwives, lactation consultants, nurses, and doctors) and maternity health institutions with the practical tools and education they need to improve outcomes for Black women and persons.”
The National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC) is “an organization focused on the sexual reproductive health and wellbeing of Black women and birthing people world-wide, NBEC creates transnational solutions that optimize Black maternal, infant, sexual, and reproductive wellbeing. We shift systems and culture through training, research, technical assistance, policy, advocacy, and community-centered collaboration.”
National Black Doulas Association (NBDA) “is equipping Black and BIPOC birth workers and families to combat the alarming rates of black maternal mortality and morbidity, through our comprehensive directory and elite trainings.”
Ocama Collective “is a community-directed group of birth workers of colour, living and working in Tkaronto (Toronto), who are dedicated to the reclamation of traditional and holistic childbearing and birthing practices, amongst IBPOC folx.”
Sésé Birthing Freedom “is a Bronx-based cooperative providing doula services, movement classes and educational workshops for people before, during and after childbirth. Sésé also offers mentorship and consulting services to individuals and organizations wanting to integrate birth justice into their work.”
The Shades Of Blue Project is “dedicated to helping women of color before, during and after child-birth with community resources, mental health advocacy, treatment and support.” Their “vision is to change the way women are currently being diagnosed and treated after giving birth and experiencing any adverse maternal mental health outcome.”
Sista Midwife Productions is “a birth advocacy training and consulting agency. We create educational events for communities, birth workers, and organizations that work with childbearing families. We provide lectures, consultations and individualized training to organizations, institutions, and governments, at the local, regional, and national level.”
Sisters in Loss “is dedicated to replacing silence with storytelling around pregnancy and infant loss and infertility of black women. Sisters in Loss holds space to present loss and infertility stories in a resourceful culturally acceptable way to assure black women they are not alone on this journey. Sisters in Loss provides educational and doula services in pregnancy, birth, postpartum, bereavement, and grief support to help women step beyond anxiety and fear and into trust and peace after loss.”
