Bringing Awareness to Black Maternal Health Week
By: Daishaly Rodriguez
303,000 girls and women die yearly from preventable complications from pregnancy and childbirth (1.) Maternal Health is known as the health and wellbeing of a woman during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. Oftentimes in medical settings, women of color are not provided with the same attention and care as white women. This lack of attention and overall discrimination towards women of color can cause severe negative effects on a pregnant person's maternal health. Black maternal health week is an opportunity for people all around the world to educate themselves about what maternal health is while also learning to identify and prevent the discrimination that can come with it. During Black maternal health week, it is essential to understand how Black mothers have been deprived of what they need when it comes to their maternal health because of systems of racism deeply rooted in this country. We all must work to help them reclaim what they deserve.
To mobilize change, the South Coast-based Sacred Birthing Village, formed by dedicated and committed women building a sisterhood for the sacred pregnancy journeys, has a vision of a healthy community of mothers, fathers and babies. Organizations such as Sacred Birthing Village are working to provide all women with necessary resources. Through their sister-friend opportunity, they allow a pregnant woman and a mentor to make a connection and create a sacred experience throughout the pregnancy. Sister-friends help connect pregnant people with the resources and information they need for the most ideal pregnancy possible. Sacred Birthing Villages's goal is to help support families in creating the best parental situation. Programs like this allow women to have a more stress-free pregnancy, resulting in healthier birth outcomes for both mother and baby.
The constant neglect of pregnant women of color in many healthcare spaces is often overlooked. Soraya Dossantos from Sacred Birthing Village states, “There is white medical violence taking place that stems from a place of an anti-blackness narrative in health care facilities. Systemically there have been various barriers set for women of color when it comes to their maternal health. It is our job to identify those who can work to support one another.” Soraya believes that it is not the responsibility of a pregnant woman to solve these issues. Pregnant women of color should not have to exert so much energy into maternal health and should be able to use that time to help maintain themselves and their babies. This has become a problem not just one of us can solve. One by one through education and overall attention to this issue we can work towards an inclusive health care system for everyone.
Prioritizing the physical and emotional well-being of a pregnant woman is a key way to support healthy mothers and children. Soraya believes women can best take care of themselves and their children by finding ways to aid their pregnancy journey, by identifying situations where there is a feeling of unsafety and looking for what feels right and by finding a place where you feel heard and seen. As allies to maternal health, we can support these women by supporting maternal health organizations and educating ourselves on this gap in health care. In order to see positive change, we all need to acknowledge that this is a problem and work to provide all birthing people with equal resources.
Say L, Chou D, Gemmill A et al. Global Causes of Maternal Death: A WHO Systematic Analysis. Lancet Global Health. 2014;2(6): e323-e333.
