10 Takeaways on Improving Black Maternal and Child Health

“Our maternal health system is broken for everyone of all identities. So, what happens when you have people who are made more vulnerable by the systems of oppression, like Black folk, like trans and queer folk, like poor folk, like people who don’t have access to food security, right? That is now compounded. So, in any situation where you already have a system that isn’t working, the people who actually get the most affected by it are those who are at those intersections of other systems of oppression.”

“Being culturally humble, it’s knowing that maybe you don’t know everything, but you can listen to what someone’s experience is. And I’ve seen that from being a patient and a nurse practitioner. And I think it’s meeting someone where they are and listening to what they’re saying, because often the system of healthcare is very challenging. I’ve seen that in my own family, despite having someone in the family who’s a nurse.” 

“Telemedicine is now something that is being embraced. For mothers who live so far out and they don’t have access to get to their physicians because they live so far away, telemedicine is definitely something that can be offered to them. Everyone has a phone. But then the question is, is it being offered and are they being supported the way they’re supposed to?” 

“Black doulas are there to not only educate Black women on their rights within the healthcare system when they’re hospitalized. They advocate for if their doctor or their nurse or any of the medical staff is not treating them right. You know, they do try to empower them. ‘Hey, you can get a new nurse. If something feels uncomfortable, you can get a new nurse.’ They advocate for them to remind them of their birthing plan. ‘Remember we said that? Remember you said that you actually didn’t want an epidural? What are some other options?’ … Black doulas are really a bridge to helping Black women make sure their voice is heard, which of course has been historically silenced.” 

“It has to address your care, has to address gaps in care and ensure a continuity of care connection. It has to be affordable and accessible. It has to be confidential, safe, and trauma-informed. It has to ensure informed consent of the Black birthing people, their family. It has to be parent-centered and patient-led. It needs to be culturally informed and include traditional practices. It should be provided by culturally competent and culturally congruent providers. It should respect spirituality and spiritual health. It should honor and foster resilience. It should include the voices of all Black mamas. It should be responsive to the needs of all genders and family relationships. And lastly, it should provide wraparound services and connections to social services.” 

“If we don’t have that continued funding … we’re starting all over again. That’s one of the biggest things. And especially for small organizations. Sometimes we may see state agencies or institutions that will eat up the funding. And then when it trickles down to the community, it is so little that we can’t do anything with it. We can’t maintain staff.

“And when we talk about sustainable funding, a part of this work is us being able to provide a living wage and to provide our staff members and team members with the resources that they need to do the work. And it’s heavy work. So, to give them a manageable load so that they can actually do what they love and then go home and … create a work-life balance.” 

“Enough volunteerism to go around for the huge need that we’re seeing in the community, I think it’s definitely one of the barriers that we face, and just having enough manpower or womanpower, for that matter, nursing power to educate and to make sure that we are addressing this need is one of the barriers that we are facing.”