Abstract
Statement of Problem
The current medical care system is failing pregnant Black women; research has shown that pregnant Black women have a higher rate of maternal deaths than White women. There is a higher rate of Black patients not feeling validated by their providers, a lack of resources that target their specific population, lack of education on perinatal options, and preventable maternal complications. The inequities in maternal health outcomes as well as social and political structures and policies in United States were born out of racism, classism, and gender oppression. Black women reported higher rates of symptoms of anxiety and depression during pregnancy and postpartum than women of any other race.
Purpose of Project
The purpose of this qualitative project is to provide a maternal health resource website for Black women which provides them with access to culture-specific perinatal support and resources in the community.
Project Description
This project provides positive role models in the maternal healthcare system with support, education, and resources for Black women that are target mothers in need of care. The feedback from evaluators of the project was overwhelmingly positive. The evaluators shared the needs and benefits for maternal health resource information to be shared with Black women, local Black healthcare institutions, and Black communities. This project should prompt taxpayers to support maternal health bills and activate call to action sessions to educate society on new legislation for all women but particularly on the Black women birthing health crisis. This project will solve the limited access to resources for clinical practices to dismantle biased practices and beliefs, structural and institutional racism that perpetuate in maternal healthcare for Black women. Black women, stakeholders, community-based organizations, and practitioners can achieve birth equity and promote respectful maternal care that adequately addresses the needs of Black birthing families with access to the maternal health resource website.