GUESTS:
With an introduction by Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, Representing the 14th District of Illinois, and first woman, the first person of color, and first millennial to represent her community in Congress, and also the youngest Black woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives
The conversation will include:
L. Latéy Bradford, MD, PhD, University of Maryland Medical Center: Chief Resident, Family Medicine
Stacey Stephens, LCSW-C, Director, B’more for Healthy Babies, Promise Heights
Stephanie Etienne, CNM, Certified Nurse Midwife based in Baltimore
MODERATOR:
Tatyana Turner, Reporter, The Baltimore Sun
FORMAT: Panel discussion with Q&A In the richest nation on earth, moms are dying at the highest rate in the industrialized world—and the rate is rising. For as dire as the situation is for all women, the crisis is more severe for Black mothers.
On March 11, 2021, the New York Times featured the story, “Why Black Women Are Rejecting Hospitals in Search of Better Births”, reporting that, “Black mothers in the United States are 4 times as likely to die from maternity-related complications as white women.”
Black women also experience higher rates of maternal complications and infant mortality. They are twice as likely to lose an infant to premature death, and these disparities have not improved in more than 30 years. These disproportionate inequities exist regardless of income, educational level or any other demographic characteristic.
The Black Maternal Health Caucus was launched by Congresswomen Alma Adams and Lauren Underwood to improve Black maternal health outcomes and to raise awareness within Congress about the problem and advocate for effective, evidence-based, culturally component policies and best practices for health outcomes for Black mothers.
This virtual session will provide insight how to make pregnancy and childbirth safer in the U.S., amplify community–driven policy, practice and systems and enhance community organizing on Black maternal health by taking action to reduce maternal mortality and reduce morbidity related to childbirth.