NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Health leaders across the United States are working to address the maternal health crisis, as Black women are nearly three-times more likely to die during childbirth than any other race.
Last month, several organizations hosted panel discussions and events to raise awareness for Black maternal health.
Norfolk State University assistant professor Dr. Stephenie Howard serves on the Eastern Region of Virginia Child Fatality Review Team, which is working to developing recommendations for prevention and education.
While reviewing child death rates in the Eastern Virginia region, she noticed a trend of Black babies dying at a higher rate than others.
“There are medical disparities with Black women who are dying at higher rates,” Howard said. “They’re having more complications during pregnancy and childbirth. We also see that Black infants are dying at higher rates than other infants. It is [a result of] systemic factors. It is the lack of resources. It is the limited housing and affordable housing opportunities. It is larger, broader issues that are creating and increasing risks in Black and Brown communities.”
Howard noticed that Black families with a doula (or birthing mother) have a more positive experience during childbirth. She started to investigate the causes of infant deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome or accidental suffocation and strangulation, to see if doulas share safe sleep practices with clients.
“There’s a lot of distrust with medical providers and other helping professionals, social workers included,” Howard said. “It is based on a history of malpractice, biased treatment, and harmful practices in Black and Brown communities.”
Howard and Shannon Dancy, a NSU research assistant published their findings on ‘Reducing Infant Deaths in Virginia: The Role of Doulas Serving Black Caregivers.’
“What we heard was that doulas help families to figure out how to make safe sleep work for their family, their lifestyle and the environment,” Howard said. “Doulas can be lifesaving resources. They are accessible. They’re there to help us. They are sensitive to culture. Having both … your medical professionals, social workers and nurses, but also having doulas, is a really great opportunity.”
Melissa Herd, acting regional director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region III Acting Regional Director, told WAVY.com that “doulas are advocates for families. They’re not there to replace the nurse or the physician, but to come alongside birthing families.”
Herd joined health leaders at Gethsemane Baptist Church in Newport News for a two-day Maternal Health Convening.
“We are coming together to look at some of those root causes and recognize that there are systemic racism and policy issues, number one, but there is also implicit bias in terms of the individuals that are trying to serve these populations,” said Dr. Cynthia Romero, EVMS Brock Institute director. “There are ways that we can be culturally humble and also attentive to the way that [we] interact with others, and treat each individual, especially pregnant individuals and people of color, with humility, with kindness and compassion.”
The work is far from over, the hope is to bring together people from academic institutions, historically Black colleges and universities and faith-based organizations to address this crisis.
Kenda Sutton-El, Birth in Color executive director and founder, is pushing for legislation to create an infant mortality review team.
“It’s alarming because it is happening to not only the moms,” Sutton-El said, “but now, we have the infants that aren’t even making it to age one.”
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