This year will mark the fourth annual national Black Maternal Health Week campaign, founded and led by Black Mamas Matter Alliance. This year’s campaign took place from April 11th to April 17th, and focused on amplifying the voices of Black mothers and birthing people, and centering the values of the reproductive and birth justice movements.
As described by Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Black Maternal Health Week works to do the following:
- Deepen the national conversation about Black maternal health in the US;
- Amplify community-driven policy, research, and care solutions;
- Center the voices of Black Mamas, women, families, and stakeholders;
- Provide a national platform for Black-led entities and efforts on maternal health, birth and reproductive justice; and
- Enhance community organizing on Black maternal health.
This work is vital in addressing the disparities in access to health care and health outcomes for Black women and birthing people across the U.S. In fact, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women across the nation. Racial bias within the health care system contributes to the disproportionate number of pregnancy-related deaths among Black women.
As a reproductive health organization, it’s crucial that we uplift the work of the reproductive justice organizations focusing on increasing health equity for Black women and families and that we commit to continue to fight back against racial bias and disparities in quality of care for Black people.
Locally, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest is proud to be working alongside doulas, midwives and birth workers to advocate for a new program to increase access to doula services in San Diego County. To learn more about this work and stay updated, make sure you’re signed up to receive advocacy alerts at voteforchoice.org/signup.
To access additional information about Black Maternal Health Week and access a film guide, check out the Black Mamas Matter Alliance page here