Black Maternal Health Week 2021 Achieves Historic White House Recognition
“This week is Black Maternal Health Week, and make no mistake, Black women in our country are facing a maternal health crisis. Black women are two to three times more likely to die in connection with childbirth than other women. We know the primary reasons why systemic racial inequities and implicit bias,” said Vice President Kamala Harris at a White House Roundtable she hosted with Ambassador Susan Rice in honor of Black Maternal Health Week. The event was the first event of its kind at the White House Black women who have experienced loss and complications during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum were invited to share their experiences and their work in Black maternal health advocacy and research.
One step Connecticut can take to address our maternal mortality crisis
Uncertainty. Fear. Worry.
These are just a few of the thoughts and emotions that run through the minds of almost every expecting parent. And for many expecting Black parents, those feelings can be more acute.
Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD
That’s because for far too many, having a child is a life and death struggle.
Last week was Black Maternal Health Week and April is Minority Health Month, making right now an opportune time for all of us to recognize this crisis and frame the national conversation around dismantling the systemic barriers to care for Black and other pregnant people of color .
Having a baby should be one of the most joyful times in a person’s life.
But records show that Black women, and women of color, are much more likely to die due to childbirth-related complications than white women, or to suffer from medical complications.
In an effort to combat maternal morbidity, the Massachusetts legislature recently passed a bill creating a maternal health commission, which received Gov. Charlie Baker’s approval in mid-January. The new commission is tasked with finding ways to eliminate or reduce racial disparities when it comes to maternal health.
“Even with the best institutions in the world right here in the Commonwealth, maternal mortality is still a public health crisis that impacts all women, but particularly Black women who die at twice the rate of white women in Massachusetts,” state Sen. Liz Miranda, who represents parts of Dorchester and Roxbury, said in a press release from Senate President Karen Spilka when the bill cleared the legislature.
Angela Lewis Of Snowfall Says Birth Work Is Key To Her Journey
The “Snowfall” actor has been a vocal advocate for educating Black mothers on the importance of midwifery and doula work.
Christopher Polk via Getty Images
Angela Lewis at the premiere Of FX s Snowfall Season 2 on July 16, 2018, in Los Angeles.
When Angela Lewis isn’t playing the tough-minded Aunt Louie, ensuring her nephew Franklin’s (Damson Idris) business is running smoothly on the hit FX series “Snowfall,” she is doing all she can to spread awareness about the Black maternal health crisis in the United States.
Lewis, who gave birth to her first child in 2019, has been a vocal advocate for educating Black mothers on the importance of midwifery and doula work. A doula is a trained professional tasked with nurturing and offering nonmedical support to women throughout pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. A midwife is a medical professional responsible for the same. When Lewis gave birth to her daught
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