TAMPA, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Black Maternal Health Week runs from April 11-17. Every year since 2018, the week has been used to highlight the need to address high rates of preventable maternal mortality among Black women.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Research shows Black women are more than three times more likely to die during childbirth when compared to their white counterparts. This year\u2019s theme is \u201cRooted in Justice and Joy,” focusing on healing, community resilience, and reproductive justice. It’s something experts say is a long time coming.<\/p>\n Brand new numbers, same old problems \u2014 that\u2019s how experts describe\u00a0the factors driving the high number of Black\u00a0mothers and infants dying during childbirth.<\/p>\n Research shows Black women are more than three times more likely to die during childbirth when compared to their white counterparts.\u00a0The latest numbers for Black maternal health aren\u2019t as easy to find as years prior. The CDC hasn\u2019t released up-to-date numbers.<\/p>\n Experts said the same can be said about their usual sources of information for Black maternal health. A new report from the March of Dimes<\/a> does provide some stats for each state.<\/p>\n While the focus during Black Maternal Health Week is on the path forward, birthing experts say this health crisis\u00a0dates back hundreds of years.<\/p>\n Pandora Hardtman has worked as a midwife all over the world. She has also studied history and how it connects with maternal and infant mortality. She said she has looked at research that shows Black maternal health issues date back to chattel slavery in America and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I were to rewind 200-plus years, we still had some of the same issues. Poor nutrition. So, whether we\u2019re looking at a food desert in America right now with only a convenience store colored stuff, or if we\u2019re looking back in the day when they were eating the leftovers, nutrition still is a problem,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can have higher hemorrhage. Hemorrhage is still the number one cause of maternal mortality and morbidity globally. So you see, it\u2019s connected. The root issues from then are still some of the root issues now, although they may manifest differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Newly released documents from the Black Cemetery Network African American Burial Grounds & Remembering Project show several death certificates for people buried in the early 1900s in the forgotten Evergreen Cemetery. The cemetery was once located where I-175 now sits near Tropicana Field.<\/p>\n Among those death certificates are a number of infants and in at least one instance, the infant and the mother. And while there aren\u2019t many details confirming what led to the infant deaths, birthing experts like Hardtman said it gives a glimpse into maternal health care at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take the lesson in most of those still births were babies who maybe there were issues with resuscitation, the baby\u2019s breathing. There\u2019s a lesson to be had in that,\u201d Hardtman said. \u201cWe cannot ignore the epigenetic impact that\u2019s happened to us, hearing all of the stories. Women having 10 babies and maybe three surviving. We also had still the same issues today. Problems with water. Back to basic health and sanitation, right? Water, nutrition, all of that stuff that impacted the child mortality.\u201d<\/p>\n Telesia Chaney Stephens and her mother, Carol Nelson Chaney, got a chance to see the death certificate for a stillborn baby Telesia\u2019s great grandmother birthed in 1916.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would have been her first child. This would\u2019ve had to have been her first child,\u201d Telesia said.<\/p>\n On the death certificate from Evergreen Cemetery, the name of the child reads \u201cInfant of Archie Chaney.” Archie Chaney was Telesia\u2019s great-grandfather. She said her great grandmother Petronia never spoke about giving birth to a stillborn baby.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I was surprised to have heard it but after thinking about it, no. I could see, truly see why, because you know, considering child and maternal health among African American women, I know that there is issue there. So, I can only imagine back in the day when we definitely weren\u2019t getting prenatal care like we were supposed to be getting,\u201d Telesia said.<\/p>\n Telesia and her mother, Carol, say they have both experience the pain of losing a child-and with the information they know now, they plan to do their part to stop history from repeating itself in their families and others. Starting with a conversation.<\/p>\n \u201cHey if you think you\u2019re pregnant, if you find out you\u2019re pregnant, get into prenatal care, see your OBGYN, make sure you\u2019re doing what you\u2019re supposed to. So, I think they are conversations that definitely should be had. Definitely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Offering free doula care to everyone who applies, programs to make sure moms have the safest pregnancy and delivery, and partnering with local health care facilities are all part of the strategy at Reach Up<\/a>, the maternal health organization in Tampa. Their mission lines up with what birthing experts across the country are looking at, especially when it comes to black mothers and their babies who are three to four times more likely to die during childbirth.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are an organization focused on reducing infant and maternal mortality. We keep it very simple. Our goal is to get that number to zero. Zero preventable infant deaths and zero preventable maternal deaths,\u201d said Reach Up CEO Nicola Bailey.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you address those things that lead to the unhealthy outcome, you solve the puzzle, and it doesn\u2019t matter if I had one baby or eight babies,” she said. “I still deserve to live, and so does all eight of my babies.\u201d<\/p>\n Infant mortality from conception to age two represents the most critical period for a child’s survival and development, with the highest risk of mortality occurring in the first 28 days. Experts say those first 1,000 days are just as important for mothers. In Florida, the Medicaid extension now covers moms up to a year after birth. The newly passed federal Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act<\/a> provides funding and mandates the dissemination of information about how to prevent deaths, along with best practices.<\/p>\n
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While the focus during Black Maternal Health Week is on the path forward, birthing experts say this health crisis\u00a0dates back hundreds of years.
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Infant mortality from conception to age two represents the most critical period for a child’s survival and development, with the highest risk of mortality occurring in the first 28 days.
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SEE ALSO:\u00a0List of events for Tampa Bay’s 3rd annual Black Maternal Health Week<\/a><\/p>\n