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Birth Doula Trainings for all people, scholarships available, classes begin Wed evenings online on May 19 through July 14.  Trainer for Harambee Village Doulas! Janine Gardner of Prism Birth Services is my assistant for this series. www.doulaworkshop.com 

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Birth Doula Trainings for all people, scholarships available, classes begin Wed evenings online on May 19 through July 14.  Trainer for Harambee Village Doulas! Janine Gardner of Prism Birth Services is my assistant for this series. www.doulaworkshop.com 

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Finding the right doula training for you is more than finding one that fits your budget and schedule. You want to make sure that your training adds value to your life and furthers your goals.

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Felica Turner-Walton, Founder & CEO

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Inability to stop talking about the loss

Avoiding certain discussions

Feeling or believing that if you express any emotion about the loss, it will take over (you will never be able to stop crying or if you express your anger you will go out of control).

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Inability to stop talking about the loss Avoiding certain discussions Feeling or believing that if you express any emotion about the loss, it will take over (you will never be able to stop crying or if you express your anger you will go out of control).

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The Foundation for Black Women Wellness
Black Maternal Alliance
Great Summit
Carola

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BUT ALSO......... and as spiritual beings BUT GOD!

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Thank you for placing Black Maternal Health in the budget,  Legislatures PLEASE PASS THE BILL!!
Carola

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Need a Doula or want to train as a Doula?  Check us out at Harambee Village Doulas

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Need a Doula or want to train as a Doula?  Check us out at Harambee Village Doulas

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Founded in 2014, Harambee Village is a community-based doula organization committed to mothers, babies, and families based in Madison, Wisconsin. The word "Harambee (Har-ahm-bay)" is our name and our mission; it means "Let's Pull Together" in the Swahili language.

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Race is not the risk factor - Racism is!

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"Race is not biology but the racism has biological effects."

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From working with those in the Milwaukee community who are pregnant and postpartum, one challenge is affordable, safe housing.  Evictions, predatory landlords and practices, unreasonable deposits and down payments...

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From working with those in the Milwaukee community who are pregnant and postpartum, one challenge is affordable, safe housing.  Evictions, predatory landlords and practices, unreasonable deposits and down payments...

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Dr. Zapata - Her story was compelling.  Appreciated it.

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Complete the form at the link below to email Governor Evers in support of his budget proposals in support of Black Maternal & Child Health and health equity for all.

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Take Action - Foundation for Black Women's Wellness

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© Foundation for Black Women's Wellness 2021. All Rights Reserved.

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Continue to join these pertinent informational sessions to stay aware of the steps we must take to demand safe and equitable treatment of our bodies and babies. Partnership is key in changing this devastating narrative. Thank you for such an enlightening morning session!

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Continue to join these pertinent informational sessions to stay aware of the steps we must take to demand safe and equitable treatment of our bodies and babies. Partnership is key in changing this devastating narrative. Thank you for such an enlightening morning session!

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Become a Paid Teen Educator & Adolescent Health Advocate!

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Become a Paid Teen Educator & Adolescent Health Advocate!

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NOW HIRING TEEN EDUCATORS & YOUTH ADVOCATES!

Applications are due by June 13th. Please see the job description and important training dates for the PATCH Site in your area before completing your application.

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Positions for Teen Educators, Youth Advocates, & Interns now available!

See information below for more details!

Applications are due by June 13th. Please see the job description and important training dates for the PATCH Site in your area before completing your application.

​PATCH stands for Providers and Teens Communicating for Health. We believe that for YOU (and other teens) to be your best self, you should be able to have open and honest conversations with a trusted health care provider. But for many, this often isn't the case. That's why PATCH exists! We want to make sure that ALL youth are able to get the health care they need and deserve.

In this program, we rely on YOU to be the expert and share what you know about being a teen, like:

- What are you/your peers' concerns about health care?

- What are the things that make you like or dislike a health care provider?

- How much do you or your friends know about your health care rights as a teen?

Teen Educators gain valuable leadership and advocacy experience, improved communication and presentation skills, access to interesting and up-to-date health information, and an opportunity to use their voice to create statewide change. Being a Teen Educator is paid job and also an impressive accomplishment to include on college applications and job resumes.

To see a preview of the information required for your application, .

Interview Dates: TBD

Training Dates: TBD

Interview Dates: July 19-23

Training Dates: TBD, late August

Interviews: July 19-23

Training: August 19, 21, 22

August 26, 28, 29

Interview Dates: TBD

Training Dates: TBD

Interview Dates: TBD, mid-late July

Training Dates: TBD, late August

Interview Dates: TBD

Training Dates: TBD

PATCH Staff will contact applicants to arrange interviews after the application deadline.

Any candidate unavailable to participate in an interview or all of Teen Educator training cannot be hired.

PATCH Wisconsin celebrates diversity in every form including race, gender identity, ability status, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religion, and all other identities. We encourage ALL interested teens to apply!

Internships may be paid or unpaid depending on site funding. Interns should be out of high school and should be able to dedicate 8-12 hours of time a week to work with PATCH. Additionally, interns must live in the community in which they are interning, though much of the work is independent/off-site.

Details for internships will be added as job descriptions are available but we anticipate internships available in Wausau & Madison, WI. Please review full job descriptions below for application instructions.

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Positions for Teen Educators, Youth Advocates, & Interns now available! See information below for more details! Applications are due by June 13th. Please see the job description and important training dates for the PATCH Site in your area before completing your application. ​PATCH stands for Providers and Teens Communicating for Health.

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spoke about how African American women are taught to be silent and not to express themselves including in health care and if they do they are seen as being hostile or confrontational

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spoke about how African American women are taught to be silent and not to express themselves including in health care and if they do they are seen as being hostile or confrontational

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the governor made this be the  day for African American women health disparities.  the numbe rhas increased for health disparities among the African American women. Low birth rates has increased  wisconsin has been rated the number one for health inequality.  29 percent of black women experience anemia in pregnancy and depression.Racial dsicimination effects our low birth rate and having hard times getting pregnant and segrated areas Right for all the wrong that has ben done to end the health disparities

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Governor's, Mayor's, Dane County Executive Proclamations

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Curious about the State Budget Process? Check out this infographic!

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Find out who represents you as elected officials: 

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Find out who represents you as elected officials: 

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Speak out in support of the Healthy Women Healthy Babies Initiative in the State Budget using this link: https://www.supportwomenshealth.org/healthy-women-healthy-babies.html

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Speak out in support of the Healthy Women Healthy Babies Initiative in the State Budget using this link: https://www.supportwomenshealth.org/healthy-women-healthy-babies.html

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Wisconsin faces a black infant mortality crisis.

Wisconsin has the highest rate of black infant mortality. African American babies born in our state die before age 1 at a higher rate than any other state in the country.

The rate of infant deaths for black babies in Wisconsin is nearly three times as high as white babies.

The maternal mortality rate for African Americans is five times greater than for non-Hispanic Caucasians giving birth in Wisconsin.

Governor Evers has proposed to help address this crisis by investing $30 million in his State Budget into a Healthy Women Healthy Babies Initiative.

Includes funding to pilot a doula reimbursement program in targeted communities and invests in doula training grants. (The benefits of having a doula present during labor are well documented and studies show improved birth outcomes).

Expands Medicaid postpartum eligibility for women up to one year. (Currently, Medicaid covers pregnant women for only 60 days after birth of their child).

Includes $4.5 million to Black woman-led and community serving organizations working to improve Black women's health.

Includes $3.5 million to organizations working to reduce disparities in maternal and infant mortality.

While it's heartening to see a budget that includes provisions to help address our state's Black maternal and child health crisis, we need to speak out to encourage state legislators to keep this proposal in the state budget and to support the Healthy Women Healthy Babies Initiative !

It is heartening to see a budget that includes provisions to help address our state's infant mortality and birth outcome crisis with this initiative.

Recognizing that women's preventative health care should be prioritized is a step in the right direction

It is crucial that community leaders remain at the table through implementation.

These items must not be taken out of the budget as we must start taking steps to remedy this crisis.

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Wisconsin faces a black infant mortality crisis. Wisconsin has the highest rate of black infant mortality. African American babies born in our state die before age 1 at a higher rate than any other state in the country. The rate of infant deaths for black babies in Wisconsin is nearly three times as high as white babies.

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Dane County Health Council Program Director Position

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Dane County Health Council Program Director Position

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Program Director, Dane County Health Council - University Crossing Building

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We are seeking a Program Director, Dane County Health Council to manage a portfolio of care coordination initiatives for the Dane County Health Council that impact social determinants of health and address Black maternal and child health inequities.

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Source: Wisconsin Women's Network

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Source: Wisconsin Women's Network

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Source: Wisconsin Women's Network

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Source: Wisconsin Women's Network

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Steps for a successful Legislative Meeting

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Steps for a successful Legislative Meeting

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Source: Wisconsin Women's Network

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Steps for a Successful Legislative Meeting in Small Groups

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Source: Wisconsin Women's Network

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Join the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness and the Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance of Dane County for the

Thursday, April 22nd, 2021, 9:00am - 3:00pm CST

Register now for Wisconsin's 1st Annual (virtual) Black Maternal and Child Health Summit!

This one-day conference, hosted by and for Black Women, is intended for Black Women, Mothers, Birthing Parents, Birth Workers, Community Leaders and Black Women Reproductive Justice advocates in Wisconsin who are ready to join forces to share our successes and to drive solutions together.

Wisconsin leads the nation in racial birth disparities impacting Black women and babies, and is 1st in the nation for Black infant mortality. Black mothers in Wisconsin face a 5x's greater maternal mortality rate than our white peers, and simultaneously face social, economic, and healthcare barriers that place their health and well-being at risk.

Yet, Black women continue to pioneer solutions to address this problem, from positions of community, systems, and policy. Black Doulas, birth workers, non-profit and community leaders, grassroots activists, healthcare professionals, business owners, policy makers, and Reproductive Justice advocates are doing the work and driving new critical visibility, accountability, and solutions to turn the tide.

Join us as we celebrate Black women's work, and create new synergy to drive change in Wisconsin's first-in-the-nation racial birth disparities. We will prevail!

Draft Agenda
9:00 AM - Welcome & Opening Remarks
9:30 - 10:30am: Opening Plenary - The State of Black Maternal & Child Health in Dane County & WI

10:30 - 10:40am: Wellness Break

1 0:45 - 11:45am: Morning Keynote - Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, National Birth Equity Collaborative

11:45am - 12:15pm: Networking & Processing Together (Break Outs)

12:15 - 12:30pm: Wellness Break

12:30 - 1:30pm: Afternoon Panel

1:45 - 2:30pm: Policy Update - Knowing the Landscape, Mobilizing for Change

2:30 - 3:00pm: Closing Call to Action

This event is made possible and registration fees waived due to the generosity of our Sponsor:

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1st Annual Wisconsin Black Maternal & Child Health Summit - Foundation for Black Women's Wellness

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This one-day conference, hosted by and for Black Women, is intended for Black Women, Mothers, Birthing Parents, Birth Workers, Community Leaders and Black Women Reproductive Justice advocates in Wisconsin who are ready to join forces to share our successes and to drive solutions together.

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First-ever Wisconsin Black Maternal & Child Health Summit set for Thursday

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First-ever Wisconsin Black Maternal & Child Health Summit set for Thursday

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Madison365, April 21, 2021

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This Thursday, The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness (FFBWW), in partnership with the newly created Black Maternal Child Health Alliance, will present the first-ever Wisconsin Black Maternal & Child Health Summit.

The summit, lasting from 9 am to 3 pm, will feature a series of panels - the panelists of which can be found on the event's - as well as a keynote from Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, MD, founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative.

"It is hosted by and for Black women who are mothers who are birthing people, birth workers, or our community leaders, reproductive justice advocates, and just everyday community Black women because our charge is really to join forces and bring Black women together to lead and shape this narrative for how we go forward in our state," said Lisa Peyton-Caire, the CEO and President of FFBWW. "And of course Black women are already leading in the space but what we realize is a gap is a collective action, organizing ourselves into a coalition."

Peyton-Caire also added the summit does not stop at just Dane County; practitioners and community leaders from all across Wisconsin from Milwaukee to Kenosha will be featured during the summit.

It is no secret that Wisconsin, as noted by Peyton-Caire, is " first and worst in the nation" when it comes to Black maternal and child health racial disparities. According to a published by the National Center for Health Statistics in 2018, the rate of infant deaths for Black babies in Wisconsin is two to three times higher than white babies. Similarly, Black mothers in Wisconsin experience pregnancy-related maternal mortality at a rate five times higher than their white counterparts.

"Black women's health and racial birth disparities is not simply a healthcare industry problem, it's a community issue. It's a multi-sector problem and the root causes are social and structural determinants of health," Peyton-Caire said.

"We know that [Black] women that live in counties with greater levels of discrimination, are more likely to give birth pre-term," said Dr. Tiffany Green, an assistant professor in the Departments of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics & Gynecology at UW-Madison, and the co-chair of The Black Maternal & Child Health Alliance for Dane County. "We have all this evidence from the literature, we have testimonies from people's lived experiences that all aligns with that. And I think that means that, given what we know about these early life determinants of health like poverty, and segregation and discrimination of all kinds, that we have to address those to address the health of Black people in general, not just the Black people who get pregnant."

In 2018, the Dane County Health Council, made of various local health systems including UW Health, UPH Meriter Health, SSM Health, Group Health Cooperative, Public Health Medicine Dane County, Access Community Health, United Way of Dane County, and Madison Metropolitan School District, worked in partnership with FFBWW to create the Saving Our Babies report, which chronicles the rampant racial disparities in Black maternal and child health in Dane County. The report not only corroborated national findings regarding Wisconsin the highest as a place with some of the highest racial disparities in Black maternal and child health, but also provided a list of recommendations that charted steps to impart measurable change to the state of Black maternal and child health in Wisconsin.

Of the listed recommendations, two have been fully realized: first, to establish what Peyton-Caire calls "an independent body of Black women leaders representing many sectors, from health care to research, to social services to mental health, to education, to a broad spectrum of Black women leaders in our community." Today that entity is known as the Summit co-host, The Black Maternal & Child Health Alliance for Dane County. The second implemented recommendation: to host a Black maternal and child health summit convened by Black women in order for those most affected by the disparities in Black maternal and child health, to come together in solidarity and work towards creating tangible solutions.

This summit comes on the heels of a shift in the national conversation to prioritize Black maternal and child health. Last week, the Biden-Harris administration recognized Black Maternal and Child Health Week, established by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance and spans the week of April 11-17, annually. The Dane County Board of Supervisors also recently recognized Black Maternal and Child Health Week. Efforts have been made at the congressional level as well, such as the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2020 proposed by Rep. Alma Adams, Rep. Lauren Underwood, and then-Senator Kamala Harris.

"I think it's so critical, in a world where [Black women] constantly experience the stress of being Black ... that we have a place to gather and be safe and this is a place where we can gather and be safe," Green said. "Having that safety is really critical to generating creative and workable ideas. It's hard, it's hard to do that when you're under constant stress and spaces that don't welcome you."
Registration for the event is free and can be found here . Registration deadline ends at 11:59 pm CDT tonight.

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First-ever Wisconsin Black Maternal & Child Health Summit set for Thursday

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This Thursday, The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness (FFBWW), in partnership with the newly created Black Maternal Child Health Alliance, will present the first-ever Wisconsin Black Maternal & Child Health Summit. The summit, lasting from 9 am to 3 pm, will feature a series of panels - th

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Mother of 5, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Ouma. Chief Programs Officer for the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness, Black Maternal Child Health Alliance Co-Chair, Dane County Health Council Member, UPH Meriter Foundation Board Member. Unrelenting Commitment to Black Women & Family's Health!

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Lisa Peyton-Caire, Founder, CEO & President, The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness (FFBWW) 

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Lisa Peyton-Caire, Founder, CEO & President, The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness (FFBWW) 

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Lisa Peyton-Caire is the Founding CEO & President of The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness. Her work as a passionate advocate for women’s health was spurred by Mother’s untimely death at age 64 from heart disease in 2006, after which Lisa established Black Women’s Wellness Day, an annual summit now in its 12th year that empowers women and girls to sustain healthy, wellness-centered lives. The Foundation is an outgrowth and progression of this work which has mobilized a movement in the Greater Madison community and across Wisconsin to intentionally address and improve Black women’s health.

An experienced leader, manager, and educator, Lisa has led impactful work over the past 20+ years spanning the PreK – 16 education, non-profit, women’s health, and financial service sectors. She is actively engaged in a number of local efforts to promote thriving, sustainable communities, and has served on the boards of Unity Point-Meriter Health, the Center for Resilient Cities, Sustain Dane, and A Fund for Women, and presently on the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute Advisory Board. Lisa is  an appointed member of the Governor’s Health Equity Council.

Lisa has been widely recognized for her work in women’s health and community stewardship and was recently named a national Go Fund Me Hero in 2019 for her change-making leadership; was among local health innovators named on the Madison Magazine’s 2017 M List; and in 2016 she was recognized as one of 44 Most Influential African Americans in Wisconsin by Madison365 Magazine. Based on her work and impact, Lisa was appointed in 2018 to serve on then newly elected Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’ Health Policy Advisory Council through which she was able to influence proposed policies addressing maternal and child health and health disparities in Wisconsin.

A Mother of five, Lisa holds a Masters of Science degree in Educational Leadership & Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She is also a proud former Hampton University student, home of the Pirates, where she completed her first three years of undergraduate studies.

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Dr. Tiffany Green: Co Chair BMCHA, Economist, Population Health Scientist

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Dr. Tiffany Green: Co Chair BMCHA, Economist, Population Health Scientist

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Dr. Tiffany Green is an economist and population health scientist and a nationally recognized expert in racial/ethnic and nativity disparities in reproductive health. She is currently Assistant Professor of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Green earned her Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her B.A. in economics from Florida A&M University. Her research focuses primarily on understanding the individual-, family-, and structural-level determinants of disparities in women’s health and birth outcomes. Most recently, she was selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of the Society of Family Planning’s Changemakers in Family Planning grantees and as a University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health Centennial Scholar. Dr. Green is also honored to serve as the co-chair of the Black Maternal & Child Health Alliance of Dane County, where she is committed to centering and uplifting the voices of Black mothers and ensuring that Black children are free to reach their highest potential.

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August 2021

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Originally organized by the HaRUNbee planning committee by way of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, the mission of the HaRUNbee Walk/Run is to promote wellness by encouraging families to stay healthy and fit, both mentally and physically.

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Alia Stevenson: Co-Chair, Black Maternal & Child Health Alliance of Dane County, and Chief Programs Officer, The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness

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Alia Stevenson: Co-Chair, Black Maternal & Child Health Alliance of Dane County, and Chief Programs Officer, The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness

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Alia Stevenson serves as Chief Programs Officer with The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness. Alia brings a track record of experience in shaping health equity efforts that disrupt disparities, and is an expert in team development, program planning, evaluation, and training facilitation. Alia was recognized as one of Brava Magazine’s 2015 Women to Watch, is a 2017 graduate of Nehemiah’s African American Leadership Capacity & Development Institute, and a 2017-2018 Human Impact Partner Health Equity Awakened Fellow. A former Foundation Board member and volunteer, Ms. Stevenson most recently worked for local government as the City of Madison’s Organizational Development Manager, and as Policy, Planning & Evaluation Manager and Health Equity Coordinator for Public Health Madison & Dane County. In these roles, she launched successful programming including the City of Madison’s Women’s Leadership Series and the Public Health Madison & Dane County’s health and racial equity team. Madison native, Alia is an active member of the Greater Madison community, presently serving as Co-Chair of the Board for Forward Community Investments and on the board of Edgewood College’s Social Innovation and Sustainability Leadership Program.

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Shiva Bidar: UW Health's Vice President & Chief of Equity and Inclusion 

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Shiva Bidar: UW Health's Vice President & Chief of Equity and Inclusion 

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Shiva Bidar serves as Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer leading the overall vision, coordination, and strategic leadership for the design and implementation of UW Health's initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is responsible for internal strategic initiatives as well as partnerships with community organizations to better connect and serve communities of color and LGBTQ+ communities. In addition, Shiva served as a City of Madison Alder from 2009 to 2021, including two terms as Council President. Shiva is the Co-chair of the Latino Health Council of Dane County, an executive committee member of the Latino Support Network, a Madison College Board Trustee, and a Madison Community Foundation board member. Shiva’s work has been recognized with numerous awards including 2019-20 UW Outstanding Women of Color Award, the 2018 Centro Hispano of Dane County Visionary Award and the 2018 Wisconsin LGBT Chamber Advocate of the Year. Shiva has earned both her undergraduate and Master’s degree and obtained her Certificate in Diversity Management in Health Care (CDM) from Institute for Diversity in Healthcare & Georgetown University.

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Representative Sheila Stubbs who was elected in 2018 as the first African American state representative from Dane County, is a true public servant and champion for social and racial justice and Black Maternal & Child Health. Representing Dane County District 77, which covers the South and West parts of the City of Madison. Rep Stubbs is also the current Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, leading on issues impacting the lives of all Wisconsinites. Representative Stubbs is also a member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors, leading on critical issues since 2006; and recently proposed a unanimously passed resolution establishing April 11 -17th as Black Maternal and Child Health Week in Dane County.

Representative Shelia Stubbs is extremely active in the community, providing leadership, mentoring and volunteer services, and has received numerous community recognition, service award and honors including being named  2019 YWCA Woman of Distinction Award Recipient, 2020 BRAVA Woman to Watch Recipient. and Legislative Board Member of the Wisconsin Women in Government. She is the beautiful wife of Bishop Godfrey A. Stubbs and the mother of Aquila.  Also, she is a Co-Founder of the End Time Ministries International Church in Madison, WI.

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T.R. Williams, Deputy Director of External Affairs to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers

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T.R. Williams, Deputy Director of External Affairs to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers

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T.R. Williams currently serves as the Deputy Director of External Affairs to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers.

T.R. excels in bridging the gap between where people are and where they want to be by artfully blending backgrounds in legal advocacy, public policy, community engagement and public/government affairs. She has a proven track record of success in program creation, implementation, development, group training and facilitation. Williams has volunteer service experience in corporate relations and fundraising. T.R. is multi-lingual and culturally fluent with international study and travel experience.

Williams was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She attended Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY) where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science & Africana Studies, with a correlate sequence in Hispanic Studies. After graduation, T.R. participated in the Coro Public Affairs Fellowship Program completing over 250 hours of training in public affairs, communication and team building. This fellowship led to her employment at the educational non- profit organization, the Harlem Children’s Zone, in New York City. After living and working in New York City, T.R. decided to return home to Wisconsin to attend law school at the University of Wisconsin Madison (UW Law).

While in law school, Williams served as a judicial intern for Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, was appointed as Co-Director of Corporate Relations for the largest student-run organization in the country (National Black Law Students Association) and participated in the Remington Center’s Economic Justice Institute.

T.R. began her legal career practicing family law at Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee Inc., she later joined the criminal defense practice as an Assistant State Public Defender in the Milwaukee Trial Office. T.R. went on to combine these experiences by serving as a Spanish bilingual family law and criminal defense attorney at Centro Legal.

Williams took her skills to re engage in the work of educating youth as a Founding Board Member of Milwaukee Excellence Charter School (MXCS). This led to a position with Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) in the Office of the Chief of Staff as the inaugural Alumni & Student Engagement Associate. In this role, T.R. engineered and implemented an alumni engagement strategy for the largest public-school district in the State of Wisconsin.

T.R. Williams moved back to Madison, WI in April of 2018 to join the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association as their Advocacy & Government Relations Specialist. In this role, T.R. blocked and tackled in the State and Federal legislatures on behalf of Wisconsin’s 17 Federally Qualified Community Health Centers.

T.R. believes that effective and efficient communication is grounded in focusing on edifying the listener/audience. With this foundation one can advocate with impact. Impactful advocacy is the art of bridging the gap between one’s current reality and one’s aspired reality.

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Keynote: Joia Adele Crear-Perry, MD, FACOG, Founder and President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative.

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Keynote: Joia Adele Crear-Perry, MD, FACOG, Founder and President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative.

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Joia Adele Crear-Perry, MD, FACOG – a thought leader around racism as a root cause of health inequities, Speaker, Trainer, Advocate, Policy Expert, and fighter for justice – is the Founder and President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative. Dr. Crear-Perry previously served as the Executive Director of the Birthing Project, Director of Women’s and Children’s Services at Jefferson Community Healthcare Center, and Director of Clinical Services for the City of New Orleans Health Department. Dr. Crear-Perry has been celebrated for her work to improve the availability and utilization of affordable health care for New Orleans’ citizens post the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005. Dr. Crear-Perry is most known for her work to remove Race as a risk factor for illness like premature birth and replacing it with Racism. Dr. Crear-Perry testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee as the Democratic witness in support of the only Maternal Health Bill signed into law since the new Administration came into office and currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Principal at Health Equity Cypher, on the Board of Trustees for Community Catalyst, National Medical Association, and the UCSF PTBi. After receiving her bachelor’s training at Princeton University and Xavier University, Dr. Crear-Perry completed her medical degree at Louisiana State University and her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tulane University’s School of Medicine. She is married to Andre Perry, MD, and has three children: Jade, Carlos, and Robeson.

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With Wisconsin Disparities in Mind, Researchers and Advocates Reimagine Health Care for Black Moms.

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With Wisconsin Disparities in Mind, Researchers and Advocates Reimagine Health Care for Black Moms.

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PBS Wisconsin

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During national Black Maternal Health Week, Wisconsin researchers and advocates shed light on the "crisis" of Black maternal and infant mortality and return to solutions that have historically been a part of the birthing process in the Black community.

By Marisa Wojcik | WisContext

The national spotlight on Black Maternal Health Week focuses attention on a problem that Black mothers in Wisconsin have long understood. That's because Wisconsin ranks at the bottom in the rates of death and complications for Black mothers and babies compared to their non-Hispanic white counterparts.

"The health of Black women in Wisconsin is in a state of emergency," said Lisa Peyton-Caire, executive director of the non-profit Foundation for Black Women's Wellness based in Madison. "That's best measured by our maternal health outcomes right now. So this is a pivotal time to elevate this issue, to amplify what it means for Black women in our community and state to command and demand accountability and investment and change in these outcomes."

Dr. Jasmine Zapata, an assistant professor and researcher at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, not only studies the issue, she's lived it.

Zapata was almost six months pregnant with her second child more than a decade ago, when one day she knew something was wrong.

"25 weeks into my pregnancy, I suddenly started having a sharp pain in my lower abdomen as I walked to class. I was in medical school, actually," Zapata said in a recent Here & Now Noon Wednesday interview.

When the pain kept coming, Zapata called the doctor's office and was told she was just having false labor.

"For almost three hours I called over and over again, and I was just kind of dismissed. But then there was a change and I knew that this was an emergency," Zapata recalled. "Within two hours I had my little baby girl. She was born only one and half pounds."

After three months in the neonatal intensive care unit, and multiple surgeries and interventions, Zapata brought her daughter home. But her experience on that day her daughter was born has led her to dedicate her career to helping other Black mothers and babies, and to shine a light on inequities in the health care system.

Zapata's work has done just that, with research focusing on racial inequity, implicit bias, prenatal care and high Black infant mortality in Wisconsin. Additionally, her outreach includes educating and empowering Black girls from a young age.

"We really need to be looking at this from a social determinants of health standpoint," said Zapata.

Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people live, work, study and recreate that affect their personal health and quality of life, including their access to education, job opportunities, safe housing and nutritious food. These and other factors - including racism - can have an impact on a child's wellbeing, beginning before they are even born.

"We can't wait until a Black woman is pregnant to start intervening and giving her support," said Zapata. "We need to be looking at a life course perspective from the moment a young Black baby girl is born, we need to be supporting her."

Band-aid approaches versus root causes

Wisconsin has held the moniker of worst-in-the-country for Black infant mortality for many years, but that doesn't mean people haven't been working on the issue.

"There have been many, many efforts over many years to address the poor birth outcomes that Black women experience, but they've been Band-Aid approaches," said Peyton-Caire.

These approaches include making sure women have information on eating healthy, getting to appointments, or just access to basic care. These are all important, but there are also larger forces at play.

"We have to look at the bigger picture of root causes, social and structural determinants of health, which are those economic and social factors like racism and how it shapes the way we experience systems and opportunity in our state, how it shapes who's housed and who's not housed, who has access to food, who doesn't, who has living wage employment, who doesn't," Peyton-Caire said.

Often, the choices people make are blamed for the outcomes, but health researchers say that's like treating a symptom without addressing the underlying condition.

Health researchers like Zapata say the social and structural determinants of health cannot be disentangled from race because race was baked into how American institutions were built and how policies were formed.

"We don't have disparate birth outcomes in Wisconsin because of individual behavior, but what we do have is one of the most segregated cities in the United States: Milwaukee," said Dr. Tiffany Green, assistant professor of population health sciences and obstetrics and gynecology at UW-Madison.

The city of Milwaukee declared racism a public health crisis in 2019. Since then, the idea of racism as a public health issue is being recognized by state officials and one of the country's top health agencies: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although it took a pandemic to be officially acknowledged, last week the CDC's director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, released a statement calling racism a serious public health threat.

"The pandemic illuminated inequities that have existed for generations and revealed for all of America a known, but often unaddressed, epidemic impacting public health: racism," Walensky wrote.

Advocates in Wisconsin say increasing awareness about the role of racism in public health must lead to action.

"That awareness needs to translate into real solutions and policy and practice changes that address and close those gaps," said Peyton-Caire. "Because that translates into lives being saved."

Research still in its baby stages

Studies show myriad factors contribute to differences in birth outcomes.

For example, a 2016 paper by researchers at Michigan State University shows how socio-economic status affects infant mortality across racial and ethnic groups.

"This is not just a Black and brown issue. If we look at rural communities across Wisconsin as well, low-income white women are quietly experiencing similar outcomes. It is an issue impacting everyone in our state," said Peyton-Caire.

And while infant mortality is impacting many races, incomes and lives in Wisconsin, Black women are experiencing it most acutely.

"College educated Black women have almost twice as high of a chance of having an adverse birth outcome or complications in their pregnancy compared to white women who are high school dropouts," said Zapata.

Research on how a person's birth, health and quality of life are impacted based on the social and structural determinants of health has already illuminated many inequities, but social scientists have more work to do in understanding the complex issue, according to Green.

"There are a lot of us that have been thinking about structural racism and trying to capture that. And defining exactly how that is contributing to birth disparities is exciting work, but it's still in its baby stages, for lack of a better term," Green said.

For Peyton-Caire, who works directly with mothers, the pain is that much worse when babies are making it to their full term but dying before reaching their first birthday.

"The worst way of experiencing that data is when we get a call from a woman in the community, within our network or who we serve, and we hear about the deaths," Peyton-Caire said. "We've watched this woman carry this baby. We've seen the excitement around the pregnancy. We've seen the family preparing to welcome this child. This child is born. This child is held. And then this child's funeral is being planned, a tiny infant months later.

"And it quietly is just seen as a personal calamity," she said. "It's not a personal calamity. It's a statewide community crisis."

Listening to the voices of Black women

Another emerging area of research points to the chronic stress brought on by Black mothers simply living within a society filled with implicit and explicit racism.

"There are studies that show that first generation women who move to the United States from Africa, their birth outcomes are similar to white women," Zapata explained. "The longer that their generations are here in the United States, that is when we start to see a widening of that gap and start to see this increase in horrible birth outcomes."

The culmination of chronic stress and adverse experiences is referred to in medical terms as the allostatic load. And research shows that Black Americans have higher allostatic loads adversely impacting their health.

Zapata calls it "the experience of being a Black woman in America over time."

"More and more research is correlating that to the stress that mothers, Black women, are holding in their bodies. That is impacting the quality of their pregnancies," said Peyton-Caire.

Researchers like Zapata and Green are emphasizing social scientists need to understand the issue in a way that highlights people's experiences in their own words.

"We need the voices of folks in the community and we need to center them," said Green. "And this is not just about a justice issue, it's a scientific robustness and rigor issue. We need to understand the data that we're seeing. We need to understand the context in which it was collected and we can't do that without the voices of the people in the community that are being affected."

Said Zapata: "Listening to Black women. It is pretty simple."

Additionally, researchers are looking at who is listening.

A 2020 study of patient experiences in Florida hospitals found that Black babies cared for by Black doctors had rates of mortality cut in half.

Green says there are studies that look at implicit bias in the health care field.

"Unsurprisingly, just like the general population, doctors are biased," Green said, adding that trainings around implicit bias don't show any long term positive impacts.

That's where a push for doulas and greater cultural competency comes in.

"To be culturally competent matters in any form of medical care," said doula Tracy Russel in a recent episode of PBS Wisconsin's Why Race Matters. "And I feel as though that's so much more important that we get back to because our mothers and children are dying and it's not making news."

"This is really a part of our culture, our history, our tradition, particularly in the Black community of how Black women have always led in our birthing stories," said Peyton-Caire.

Doulas are certified and trained to work with mothers directly during pregnancy, from the early stages until after birth.

"What we're seeing in the research is that women who have the support of doulas throughout their pregnancy, or even a portion of their pregnancy, experience fewer complications at birth, there's fewer outcomes where a baby is lost, and the mother experiences better health outcomes overall," said Peyton-Caire.

For Zapata, awareness and action has to come from all sides of society.

"We need every system working together... We need everybody. Everybody. All hands on deck."

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With Wisconsin Disparities in Mind, Researchers and Advocates Reimagine Health Care for Black Mothers

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During national Black Maternal Health Week, Wisconsin researchers and advocates shed light on the "crisis" of Black maternal and infant mortality and return to solutions that have historically been a part of the birthing process in the Black community.

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Listening to Black Women: The Critical Step to Eliminating Wisconsin’s Black Birth Disparities

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Listening to Black Women: The Critical Step to Eliminating Wisconsin’s Black Birth Disparities

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Lisa Peyton-Caire, MSEd; Alia Stevenson, MS

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Lisa Peyton-Caire, MSEd; Alia Stevenson, MS

WMJ. 2021;120(Suppl 1):S39-S41.
Download full text pdf.
Black women's health is in a state of emergency in Wisconsin. The efforts of Black women-led movements have brought growing attention to the harsh realities of our nation's deepest and most persistent health disparities, among them, the startling differences in birth outcomes between Black women and White women. Nowhere is this issue more pressing and relevant than in the state of Wisconsin, which carries the unfortunate designation as first in the nation for Black infant mortality, ¹ and where Black women are 5 times more likely than their White peers to die in childbirth or of pregnancy-related complications. ² Presently, babies born to Black mothers in Wisconsin are 3 times more likely than White babies to be born prematurely, placing them at increased risk of significant health and developmental challenges and of dying within the first year of life. This alarming public health crisis is mirrored in Dane County, the seat of the state's capital, where Black babies are 2 times more likely than White babies to be born too soon and too small and to die before their 1st birthday. ³

Wisconsin's poor birth outcomes for Black mothers and their babies unfold alongside a troubling record of stubborn health disparities across the state. Though African Americans comprise roughly 6% of the total population, they are overrepresented in all major categories of disease and illness, including hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, obesity, and reproductive disorders. Black women and men are more likely than their peers to live with and die from treatable and preventable illnesses and at younger ages and, despite greater access to health care in Wisconsin than in many other states, African Americans still experience the worst overall health outcomes than any other group. Alarmingly, recent data suggests that Wisconsin is the only state in the US where the life expectancy gap between Black and White women is widening. ⁴ These and other preexisting health inequities have been compounded by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impact on Black communities.

What is definitively clear is that Black women's health in Wisconsin is in a state of emergency. The disturbing status of Black maternal and child health warrants urgent and decisive action on the part of policymakers, health care systems, medical practitioners, and communities to find solutions that turn the tide sooner than later. One such effort in Dane County, the Saving Our Babies initiative, is demonstrating promising progress by centering Black women's voices and leadership to shape long-term solutions.

Black Women Cite Racism as Root Cause of Racial Birth Disparities

For the past 3 years, the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness has partnered on the Saving Our Babies initiative, an unprecedented cross-sector collaboration initiated by the Dane County Health Council to improve Black mothers' birth outcomes. The project is an extension of the Council's work over the past 20 years to support and implement efforts that improve maternal and child health, and specifically to eliminate racial birth disparities. The Foundation was retained to design and carry out a community engagement process that centered Black women, men, and community members as key informants to identify root causes and solutions to the lingering low birthweight and infant mortality crisis.

In April 2019, after 9 months of listening and gathering input from 300 mostly Black female participants, we released the Saving Our Babies Report ⁵ to share our findings and propose a focused set of community-informed recommendations and strategies. The report and its subsequent framework of actions represent a major departure from typical change efforts that are driven by systems rather than by community and that exclude community from the process of shaping and devising solutions. The prioritization of Black women's voices in this work is its defining feature and has illuminated the root causes of Black birth disparities from the perspective of those most affected.

We used a comprehensive, multilayered process to collect both quantitative and qualitative data to inform the Saving Our Babies report. Our tools included a participant survey, open-ended written questionnaire, and engagement session notes. The participant survey collected standard data on personal demographics, health history, health care experiences, family planning and pregnancy, perceptions of well-being, and social determinants of health indicators (ie, housing, food, and income security and health care coverage). The participant questionnaire captured qualitative data, including health care experiences, lifestyle and living experiences in Dane County, relationships, and social emotional support. A facilitated group discussion followed the survey and questionnaire and was supported by scribed session notes to add context and clarity to participant responses and comments.

What we heard from participants in this process was strikingly clear: racism is the greatest risk factor affecting their health and birth outcomes. Their stories pointed to 3 significant realities that shape their lived experiences and exert a perpetual state of stress that deeply affects their mental and physical health: (1) stressed Black family systems, (2) generational struggle for economic stability, and (3) systemic racism and its effect on every facet of daily life. Participants cited a pattern of racialized experiences and opportunity imbalance across education, employment, health care, housing, and community life that relegates them and their families to a second-class status, leaving them susceptible to poor health outcomes and the legacy of disparity that persists in our region.

This broad analysis of the root causes of Dane County's poor Black birth outcomes is reframing the local narrative and systemic approach to addressing racial birth inequities and has spurred the engagement of sectors beyond health care, including local and state government, business, and philanthropy, to assume greater accountability for shaping conditions that support ² Black family stability and well-being. Most importantly, the Saving Our Babies initiative has positioned Black women as critical partners in the work alongside systems to drive change.

Progress Accelerates When Black Women and Community Shape Solutions

The Saving Our Babies coalition continues to build momentum on implementing solutions shaped by the voices of Black women. Over the last year, partners have worked together to secure funding to support the creation of a care coordination system that will be implemented across each of Dane County's 5 major health systems and will screen and link patients (with an initial focus on Black mothers) to resources that address their social determinants of health needs. ⁶ Investments have been committed to expand the pool of African American doulas, birth workers, and neighborhood-based community health workers as critical players in the health care ecosystem for Black mothers and families. In August 2020, partners celebrated the launch of the Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance, an independent body of birth equity advocates who will advance strategies that improve the reproductive, maternal, and newborn health of the county's Black population. ⁷ In addition to these community investments, the Saving Our Babies report also recommends deep internal investments within health care systems and external efforts beyond health care that further favorable policies that advance economic security for Black women and families. Internal health system actions must include rooting out racial bias in health care delivery; expanding cultural competence among practitioners; building robust diversity, equity, and inclusion infrastructures; and expanding promising perinatal health initiatives. Furthermore, health systems must become active and vocal advocates in convening and driving cross-sector alliances that address the social determinants of health that lie at the root of racial health disparities.

Listen to and Believe Black Women -The Imperative That Will Turn the Tide

Building upon these and other promising developments, the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness recently embarked on a broader engagement effort to shape a statewide policy blueprint for Black women's health. Through a partnership with national digital story-capture organization Local Voices Network (LVN), we are convening Black women to identify and shape policy imperatives that will drive health and birth equity in our state. The emerging themes gathered thus far magnify the findings of the Saving Our Babies report and illuminate an immediate change that would save the lives of countless Black mothers and babies in Wisconsin: listen to and believe Black women.

An emerging theme among the women we are interviewing is the common experience of being unheard or not believed by health care providers. ⁸ This phenomenon can pose potentially life-threatening consequences to all patients, and particularly to Black mothers and babies. A study released in August 2020 suggests that newborn Black babies are 3 times more likely than White babies to die in the hospital when their doctors are White, pointing to gaps in trust, communication, and levels of care. ⁹ Quotes by 3 recent interviewees corroborate a growing body of research suggesting implicit bias on behalf of many providers who dismiss, minimize, or overlook Black women's symptoms, pain, and knowledge of their own bodies. ¹⁰ (See quotes below.)

Health systems, providers, and medical schools charged with preparing our future physician workforce bear an urgent responsibility to examine their institutional culture and individual practices to uproot bias and discrimination in the delivery of care to Black women and their families. This will require a commitment to prioritizing and cultivating cultural competence among practitioners, enabling them to deeply listen to and effectively treat Black women toward optimal health and birth outcomes. Physicians, nurses, and other providers must personally pause and reflect to examine the quality and tone of their interactions with Black women patients and consciously improve their practice of listening, believing, and responding accordingly with the absolute best care. The deep, uncomfortable work of challenging one's own social conditioning and prejudices as practitioners is central to making health care safe and effective for Black women. Similarly, policymakers must listen to and acknowledge Black women and communities' real concerns around structural racism and inequality and respond by championing community-informed policies that disrupt deeply entrenched racial inequities.

Conclusion

The present state of Black maternal and child health in Wisconsin is one of the most significant and urgent public health challenges we face. Turning the tide rests on our willingness to center, listen to, and position Black women and their communities as leaders and cocreators of the urgent changes we need. This work must confront racism head-on as the most dangerous public health threat affecting Black women and their families and must consciously work to unravel the structural and systemic barriers and biases, within and beyond health care, that perpetuate the cycle of racial disparity in our state. Efforts that advance Black maternal and child health specifically will be most effective and sustainable when they are community-driven and bring together synergistic coalitions of Black women, systems, community, and tangible resources that spark innovative solutions that generate a new cycle of health and social equity in Wisconsin. The lives of Black mothers and babies depend on our ability to get this right, and the next decade is our crucial window of opportunity to chart a powerful new course.

References

1. Mathews TJ, Ely DM, Driscoll AK. State variations in infant mortality by race and Hispanic origin of mother, 2013-2015. NCHS Data Brief. 2018;(295)1-8.

2. Schellpfeffer M, Gillespie K, Rohan A, Blackwell S. A Review of Pregnancy-Related Maternal Mortality in Wisconsin, 2006-2010. WMJ. 2015;114(5):202-207.

3. Gibson C. Le Beau R. Dane County Maternal and Child Health Data Book, April 2019. Public Health Madison and Dane County; 2019. Accessed November 1, 2020. https://www.publichealthmdc.com/documents/MCH%20DATA%20BOOK%20FINAL3.pdf

4. Harper S, MacLehose RF, Kaufman JS. Trends in the black-white life expectancy gap among US states, 1990-2009. Health Aff (Millwood). 2014;33(8):1375-1382. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2013.1273

5. Saving Our Babies Low Birthweight Engagement Final Report: Advancing Black Maternal, Child and Family Well-Being in Dane County to Improve Birth Outcomes. The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness and EQT By Design, LLC; 2019. Accessed November 1, 2020. https://ffbww.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FFBWW-DCHC-Low-Birthweight-Report_April2019.pdf

6. ConnectRx Wisconsin: Grand Prize Winners. University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty. Posted November 25, 2019. Accessed November 1, 2020. https://www.irp.wisc.edu/connect-rx/

7. Dane County Health Council and partners announce Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance to lead local birth equity efforts. Press release. University of Wisconsin-Madison. September 18, 2020. Accessed November 1, 2020. https://news.wisc.edu/dane-county-health-council-and-partners-announce-historic-launch-of-the-black-maternal-and-child-health-alliance-to-lead-local-birth-equity-efforts/

8. The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness and Local Voices Network participant interviews, audio recordings, October 2020. Accessed November 1, 2020. https://lvn.org/FFBWW

9. Greenwood B, Hardeman RR, Huang L, Sojourner A. Physician-patient racial concordance and disparities in birthing mortality for newborns. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2020;117(35):21194-21200. doi:10.1073/pnas.1913405117

10. Why are black women at such high risk of dying from pregnancy complications? American Heart Association News. February 20, 2019. Accessed November 1, 2020. https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/02/20/why-are-black-women-at-such-high-risk-of-dying-from-pregnancy-complications

Author Affiliations: The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness, Madison, Wis (Peyton-Caire, Stevenson).
Corresponding Author: Lisa Peyton-Caire, MSEd, The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness, 6601 Grand Teton Plaza, Suite A2, Madison, WI 53719, phone 301.741.6774; email Lpcaire@ffbww.org.
Funding/Support: None declared.
Financial Disclosures: None declared.

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Listening to Black Women: The Critical Step to Eliminating Wisconsin's Black Birth Disparities

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Lisa Peyton-Caire, MSEd; Alia Stevenson, MS WMJ. 2021;120(Suppl 1):S39-S41. Download full text pdf. Black women's health is in a state of emergency in Wisconsin. The efforts of Black women-led movements have brought growing attention to the harsh realities of our nation's deepest and most persistent health disparities, among them, the startling differences in birth outcomes...

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Life or Death: The Role of Doulas In Improving Black Maternal Health

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Life or Death: The Role of Doulas In Improving Black Maternal Health

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Healthline - Parenthood

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Black women are more at risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. A support person can help.

I often feel overwhelmed by the facts surrounding black maternal health. Factors like racism, sexism, income inequality, and lack of access to resources unquestionably influence a mother's birthing experience. This fact alone sends my blood pressure through the roof.

I'm consumed with figuring out ways to improve birth outcomes in my community. Speaking with maternal and perinatal health advocates about the best approach to solve these problems usually leads down an endless rabbit hole of where to begin.

The scope of the statistics is staggering. But nothing - and I do mean nothing - makes me want to advocate for change more than my own personal experiences.

As a mother of three children, I've experienced three hospital births. Each pregnancy and subsequent delivery was as different as night and day, but one common theme was my lack of safety.

About 7 weeks into my first pregnancy, I went for a checkup at my local health center, concerned about an infection. Without an exam or any physical touch, the doctor wrote a prescription and sent me home.

A couple days later I was on the phone with my mother, a physician, who asked how my visit had gone. When I shared the name of the medication I was prescribed she quickly put me on hold to look it up. As she suspected, it never should have been prescribed.

If I had taken the medication, it would have caused a spontaneous abortion in my first trimester. There are no words to describe how thankful I was that I waited to get that order filled. Nor are there words to describe the terror that flooded my heart when thinking about what could have happened.

Before, I had a healthy respect for "the experts" and not much reason to feel otherwise. I don't remember having an underlying distrust for hospitals or doctors prior to that experience. Sadly, the lack of care and disregard that I encountered showed up in my later pregnancies as well.

During my second pregnancy, when I showed up at the hospital concerned about abdominal pain, I was repeatedly sent home. The staff seemed to believe I was overreacting, so my OB called the hospital on my behalf to insist they admit me.

After being admitted, they found I was dehydrated and experiencing preterm labor. Without intervention, I would have given birth prematurely. That visit resulted in 3 months of bed rest.

Last, but certainly not least, my third birth experience was also handled badly. While I enjoyed a super healthy, high-energy pregnancy, labor and delivery was another story. I was shocked at my care.

Between the forceful cervix check and the anesthesiologist who told me he could give me an epidural with the lights out (and actually tried to), I feared for my safety again. In spite of the horrified looks on the faces of all in the room, I was ignored. I was reminded of how I was disregarded in the past.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), black women are dying at roughly the rate of white women in birth-related deaths. That statistic gets more dire with age. Black women over age 30, are more likely to die in childbirth than white women.

We are also more likely to experience more complications throughout the course of our pregnancies and less likely to have access to proper care during our postpartum period. Preeclampsia, fibroids, imbalanced nutrition, and low quality maternity care plague our communities.

Admittedly, many of the factors impacting those statistics are preventable. Unfortunately, over the last couple of decades, despite medical advancements and data showing the large disparities, not much has changed.

According to research conducted by Center for American Progress, predominantly black neighborhoods are still hard-pressed for quality grocery stores, well-funded health centers and hospitals, and consistent health coverage.

Many might assume the disparity we face is primarily an economic issue. That's not true. According to the CDC, black mothers with a college degree are more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts.

The lack of safety in birth affects every black mother, from Olympic champion Serena Williams to the high-school educated young woman giving birth right now.

Black women of all socioeconomic backgrounds are facing life or death challenges. Blackness appears to be the only commonality that decreases a birthing person's chance at a healthy pregnancy and delivery. If she's black and birthing, she may be in the fight of her life.

Each time I gave birth, I made sure my mother was there. Although some women may make that decision by choice, I made that decision out of necessity. The truth is, I believe without someone there to advocate for me I would have been harmed or have faced death. Having a knowledgeable person in the room with my best interest at heart made a huge difference.

Years later, I offered to be a labor support person for my friend during her pregnancy, knowing how much it helped me. After witnessing all the ways she was made invisible during her birth journey, questions like "What can I do?" and "How can I prevent this from happening again" swirled in my head.

I decided right then that my family, friends, and community would always have someone there to support and advocate for them during their pregnancies. I decided to become a doula.

That was 17 years ago. My doula journey has led me into many hospital rooms, birth centers and living rooms to support the sacred moment of birth. I have walked with families through their pregnancy journey and learned from their pain, love, trauma, and hardships.

When I consider all the experiences my black community has endured - the cultural nuances, trust issues, unaddressed trauma, and stress we encounter in our lifetime - it's difficult to suggest any one solution. Differences in healthcare are a result of big social issues. But there's one thing that results in better outcomes across the board.

Making doula care readily available may help improve black maternal health in pregnancy and delivery.

Black women are 36 percent more likely to have a C-section than women of any other race, reported one . Prenatal doula care gives women additional prenatal support, provides a delivery room advocate, and, according to a 2016 review of studies, has been shown to reduce C-section rates.

Center for American Progress reported on a recent case study from one nonprofit organization in Washington D.C. whose mission is to support mothers of color. They found that when low-income and minority women were provided family-centered care from a midwife, doula, and lactation specialist, they had zero infant and maternal deaths, and 89 percent were able to initiate breastfeeding.

It's clear that providing black women with support in pregnancy and postpartum increases their chances of a healthy birth for both mom and baby.

The truth is you cannot control what someone else will do or attempt, but you can prepare. Being informed about the culture of the place you choose to birth is important. Understanding policies and procedures makes you a knowledgeable patient. Knowing your medical history and any contraindications can provide great peace of mind.

Strengthening and solidifying your support systems offers a sense of grounding. Whether you hire a doula or midwife or bring a family member or friend to delivery, make sure you and your support system are on the same page. Checking in throughout the pregnancy makes a difference!

Lastly, get comfortable advocating for yourself. No one can speak up for you like you can. Sometimes we leave it up to others to educate us on what is going on around us. But we have to ask questions and hold healthy boundaries when it comes to our bodies and birth experiences.

Black maternal and perinatal health are affected by many factors. Having a strong birth support team that is invested in positive outcomes for your family is imperative. Addressing systemic bias and cultural incompetence is a must. Ensuring that mothers of all backgrounds have access to thoughtful, comprehensive care must be a priority.

I wish my story was rare, that women who look like me were treated with respect, dignity, and care when giving birth. But we're not. For us, birth is a matter of life or death.
Jacquelyn Clemmons is an experienced birth doula, traditional postpartum doula, writer, artist, and podcast host. She is passionate about holistically supporting families through her Maryland-based company De La Luz Wellness.

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Life or Death: The Role of Doulas in Improving Black Maternal Health

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Black women are more at risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. A support person can help. I often feel overwhelmed by the facts surrounding black maternal health. Factors like racism, sexism, income inequality, and lack of access to resources unquestionably influence a mother's birthing experience.

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Beverly A. Hutcherson, BS; Saby Cordoba, MS; Noelle K. LoConte, MD; Jennifer Y. C. Edgoose, MD, MPH

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Beverly A. Hutcherson, BS; Saby Cordoba, MS; Noelle K. LoConte, MD; Jennifer Y. C. Edgoose, MD, MPH

WMJ. 2021;120(Suppl 1):S78-S79.
Download full text pdf.
We are four members of the Diversity and Inclusion Advocates (DIA) Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH), a programmatic innovation of Brian Gittens, EdD, former Associate Dean of Human Resources, Equity and Inclusion. Launched in December 2017, this program trains faculty and administrative staff to encourage greater diversity in faculty hires and to serve as a resource for institutional climate issues. Although we have learned much about our institution's structure, policies, and practices, we have found that personal and interpersonal issues of who we each are and the context of our relationships with others within and outside of our workplaces is where we have done the hardest work.

We invite you to join our journey of deep (sometimes provocative) self-reflection, seeing ourselves through the eyes of someone whose identity, culture, and experiences differ from ours. Over the years, the most poignant-and perhaps necessary-change has been grappling with how our own personal identities intersect with privileges and societal positionality and learning to hear each other's experiences in a landscape of normalized, invisible oppressive structures and practices within academic medicine. When daring to reveal our most private selves, move beyond the theoretical understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion to learning in greater depth how these theoretical notions and data-driven narratives are experienced by our peers, we gained an understanding of the insidious ways in which power and oppression show up in our workspaces. We engaged in challenging conversations with each other and, thus, we find ourselves bound together in these precarious times. Here we'd like to share our reflections of who we are today.

The Brown Woman

I started my journey in Madison as the first and only one in my family to attend college. A Puerto Rican and Cuban woman from inner-city Chicago who is no stranger to racism, systemic oppression, and socioeconomic barriers (even if I could not have named them so clearly back then), I immediately entered the "I-have-to-work-twice-as-hard" mode-a mode that demands more time, more sacrifice. Like others, I felt compelled to make personal sacrifices for the sake of my professional goals; perhaps unlike others, those sacrifices left me feeling increasingly out of touch with my heritage and culture. I wanted to be invited to decision-making conversations in predominantly White spaces, but I also felt a profound sense of loneliness there. In my spare time, I sought out Latinx friends, Caribbean cuisine, and salsa dance floors. In my personal life, I bridged the divides of these differently colored and cultured spaces; but in my professional life, I struggled to know how to build bridges across pay gaps and over systemic barriers.

The DIA Program offered me a sense of community and a space where I could advocate for how the personal and professional are interwoven, especially for historically disenfranchised communities. Yes, there are many bridges that need to be built within the workplace so that hourly workers in the break rooms can become decision-makers in the board rooms. These bridges matter to me, but you cannot use even the best, most beautiful bridge if you cannot find it. So the most vital work I find myself doing right now is retracing my steps, clearing brambles, blocking wrong turns, posting signs, and paving pathways between communities of color and academic medical institutions.

The Yellow Woman

I call myself a "yellow" person, as it feels that is how I'm seen by others-someone with sallow skin and slanty eyes who has been called Japanese, Vietnamese, and even Nepalese. As an over-assimilated Korean American, I suspect that I'm a more palatable racial justice champion. After growing up poor in West Virginia with immigrant parents, I entered a women's college and felt the inadequacy of my public schooling compared to my peers from exclusive boarding schools. I became a keen observer of the mannerisms, dress, and pedigrees of the super-elite. I probably walked by a professor named Peggy McIntosh, who coined the terms "male-" and "white-privilege" when I was a sophomore-concepts I understood from experience but had no words to express until many decades later.

Today, I am a family doctor and educator trying to understand how to advocate for patients whose voices are often not heard. When asked to direct the DIA Program, I wondered how we could change the landscape by teaching a group of professionals from very different backgrounds and experiences. We persevered, moving from acquisition of knowledge to appreciation of structure, from teaching content to hearing narrative. While we each ventured into formal and informal complex conversations with varying degrees of success, we always came back together to debrief and learn how to navigate our systemically flawed institutions. A resilient cohort has emerged in this shared pursuit of anti-oppression learning and growing, both professionally and publicly, as well as personally and privately. Confronting the recent racial justice events, we come together again, not to fix things, but to find solace in our shared humanity and our responsibility not only to The Other, but for each other.

The White Woman

When I volunteered to be part a DIA, I thought I was joining to represent women and others from blue-collar communities. Shaped by multiple incidents of bias and discrimination like so many women in academic medicine, being a feminist frames who I am. The most upsetting event was when a resident attempted to sexually assault me as a medical student. Subtle microaggressions over the years also have left marks in my confidence. I am, however, also White and, as such, have never had to deal with bias due to my race or ethnicity. I realized through the DIA training process and the personal work we are committed to doing between meetings that I am more interested in equity across the board and that being anti-racist is more important than being a feminist. As a White person who has benefited from the biased systems and institutions, I felt I had a role to play in no longer being complicit in their maintenance. I also have realized that the relationship-building that has been essential over the years of the DIA program has allowed me to better receive difficult conversations, empathize with colleagues, and develop a personal investment in the issues. This culminated in the civil rights movements of the summer of 2020 and a conviction that we needed to move-together-from implicit bias training to understanding how to be a part of dismantling institutional racism in academic medical institutions.

The Black Woman

My relationship with America is complicated as a descendant of Africans who were forced into chattel slavery for hundreds of years to freemen who had to fight for every civil liberty from voting to education-I am a proud African American. I feel indebted to my forbearers for their vision, indomitable will, and hope against seemingly insurmountable odds. I grew up reading about Black contributions to the world. I was endowed with a great pride in the African diaspora, raised on the beauty and brilliance of Black people while simultaneously understanding intricately designed, racialized global caste systems. I have never adopted any mindsets that would have me question my abilities, knowing the intellectual wealth from which my DNA is derived. While we are historically disenfranchised, our abilities remain intact. I am indebted to my parents for laying a foundation of information that counteracts the current narratives that plague academia about our struggles, achievement gaps, incarceration rates, and health disparities.

As my people marched for our lives to matter in 2020, I wrestled with my efforts to enlighten my colleagues in predominantly white spaces. I am torn as academics produce data on my community without fully acknowledging our shared history and how these historical infrastructures manifest into current functional systems of oppression.

When my supervisor decided to gather a group of committed people to journey together, in an effort to grow deeper in our understanding of how our academic medical institutions support the current oppressive practices and to develop strategies to diminish them, I hadn't expected the camaraderie that we would build across differing backgrounds. We found common ground of mutual respect and a shared goal to mitigate bias and move towards eradicating systemic racism.

When We Became "We"

We have an inquiry for academia: When was it decided that success within academic medicine required us to check our humanity at the door? Anti-racism isn't an intellectual exercise. It is disheartening that it required the lynching of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor in 2020 to awaken a certain segment of our society. Even as we craft this commentary, more hashtags have emerged, #walterwallace.

Despite being of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, through vulnerability, active listening, humility, personal accountability, self-awareness, and reflection, we established a foundation of trust. Developing trust was the critical nutrient that fueled our relationships. Originally, this program brought us together to focus on a shared mission to transform our workspace. Over time, however, we realized effectiveness required us to center our humanity, moving away from didactic practice and towards relationship-building. The resolution for the racism that plagues our institutions lies within our ability to connect with our colleagues and our communities personally, with authenticity. It is when we become a collective "we."

Author Affiliations: Dean's Office, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH), Madison, Wis (Hutcherson); UW Health Graduate Medical Education, University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, Madison, Wis (Cordoba); Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, UWSMPH, Madison, Wis (LoConte); Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, UWSMPH, Madison, Wis (Edgoose).
Corresponding Author: Beverly Hutcherson, 4174 Health Sciences Learning Cnt, 750 Highland Ave, Madison, WI 53705; phone 608.263.0721; email bahutcherson@wisc.edu.
Funding/Support: None declared.
Financial Disclosures: None declared.

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Beverly A. Hutcherson, BS; Saby Cordoba, MS; Noelle K. LoConte, MD; Jennifer Y. C. Edgoose, MD, MPH WMJ. 2021;120(Suppl 1):S78-S79. Download full text pdf. We are four members of the Diversity and Inclusion Advocates (DIA) Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH), a programmatic innovation of Brian Gittens, EdD,...

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Understanding and confronting the disparities linked with race and health.

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Lisa Peyton-Caire, founder and chief executive officer of The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness, speaks in front of a framed photo of her mother, Roberta Ann Peyton. Her mother died at age 64 from congestive heart failure. Her mother's life and death inspired Peyton-Caire to launch her work. She was recently named to Gov. Tony Evers' Health Equity Council. (Photo provided)

Decades of ignoring this reality proves deadly for Black patients
Editor's Note: Click HERE for Part 1 on disparities in the criminal justice system. Click HERE for Part 3 on education disparities. This story is the second in a three-part series that looks at the disparities faced by African Americans who live in Wisconsin. In most cases, the disparities here are among the worst in the country. Since the killing of George Floyd, rallies that began solely to address systemic racism in policing are now broadening to call for reform in other areas.
Earlier this month, Dr. Jasmine Zapata and her 9-year-old daughter, Aameira, marched with hundreds of others in Madison to draw attention to Wisconsin's ranking as the worst state in the nation for Black infant mortality.

As the group made their way from the Capitol to SSMHealth Hospital on June 6, they passed the very entrance where she was brought by ambulance after going into preterm labor when she was a medical student.

"We were chanting 'Black Mothers Matter, Black Babies Matter,' and it was just so healing for me,'' said Zapata, a UW Health newborn nursery hospitalist practicing at Meriter Hospital, where the march also stopped. "And it was so bittersweet to have my own preemie marching with me for maternal child equity."

Aameria Zapata was born at 25 weeks, weighing a little more than a pound. She endured surgeries, a brain hemorrhage and infections before getting out of the hospital. Today, her mother says her "little miracle" is now "a brilliant girl, full of life,'' who recently wrote a book.

But the story doesn't end happily for far too many Black Wisconsin babies.

"I had to explain to her that her life matters, but that other Black babies who are born prematurely die at much higher rates, and some of them never get to come home from the hospital,'' Zapata said.

While the overall infant mortality rate in the United States is lower than it was a decade ago, that decrease does not hold true for Black women in Wisconsin, according to a 2018 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that tracked data from 2013-2015 nationally.

That CDC study found Wisconsin has the highest infant mortality rate for Black women in the country. The infant mortality rate in Wisconsin, 14.28 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, is 1.7 times higher than the corresponding rate in the state with the lowest overall mortality rate.

Since the killing of George Floyd May 25 at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, protests that began in that city to decry police brutality have spread worldwide. The daily rallies continue, with African American organizers calling for system-wide changes in policing.

That call is extending to healthcare in Wisconsin. For too long, the nation's healthcare system has collectively ignored the voices of African American patients, misdiagnosed or refused to believe their claims of pain, and used their bodies for research without their knowledge or permission.

Black patients and Black providers are discriminated against in the healthcare system, either by coworkers and colleagues or the patients in need of their care.

Infant Mortality Disparities
"We Black women are sick and tired of being at the mercy of the U.S. healthcare system," said Lilada Gee, founder of Lilada's Living Room Saturday before a sea of white medical coats at a 'White Coats for Black Lives' rally at the Capitol. "When we have a medical need we are not heard and we are not believed. We are being undiagnosed, underdiagnosed and we and our babies are dying because of it."

Despite the fact Dane County is one of the wealthiest counties in the state, data from Public Health Madison Dane County shows Black babies are still two times more likely than white babies to die before their first birthday.

"It is not acceptable to us that Wisconsin leads the nation in the Black infant mortality rate," said Lisa Peyton-Caire, the founder and chief executive officer of The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness that in January opened the Black Women's Wellness Center in Madison. "I think folks are willing to step into that space now, like they never were before."

One major reason for Black infants being born with lower birth rates and dying at a higher rate than white babies is the chronic stress Black women experience throughout their lives. In the medical profession, this correlation between chronic stress and its toll on the body is known as the allostatic load.

"I explain allostatic load as the systemic racism and the ultimate experience of chronic stress over the lifecourse," Peyton-Caire said. "This constant stress gets down to a cellular level ... it's a constant withering away. Your body can no longer heal itself."

A 2012 study by the National Institute of Health Institute drew a direct link between the allostatic load created by systemic racism and the health outcomes of African Americans.

Most telling was the discovery that health outcomes do not improve with wealth or other socioeconomic indicators or health behaviors.

This means a Black woman with a college degree earning $150,000 a year will still have similar health outcomes as a Black women with a high school diploma earning minimum wage due to the chronic stress of living in a racist society.

"Black women can eat vegetables, they can stop eating fried foods, they can walk five miles a day, jog, stop smoking, but we will still have babies born with low birth weights," Peyton-Caire said. "The health outcomes will not improve because we are facing systemic problems."

healthcare ambassadors
Lisa Peyton-Caire, founder and CEO of The Black Women's Wellness Center in Madison (top row, third from left) with Wellness Ambassadors. (Photo provided)

In March 2018, the Dane County Health Council initiated a community engagement campaign around the African American low birthweight crisis. The Council contracted with The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness and its project partner EQT By Design to interview 300 African American women, men and youth in Dane County. The result, the Saving Our Babies report, was submitted to the Dane County Health Council in February of 2019.

The study found that the top two factors driving low birthweight babies and maternal and child health disparities were racism, discrimination and institutional bias followed by bias and cultural disconnect in healthcare delivery experiences.

"We need to invest in Black women. We need to provide security in the lives of Black women so we can live," Peyton-Caire said. "When Black women are healthy, they become health advocates for themselves, they become health advocates for their families and they become health advocates for their communities."

One of every three Black children in Wisconsin lives in poverty, a rate 3.5 times higher than the figure for White children. That difference is the fourth-largest in the U.S, according to the " Race in the Heartland: Wisconsin's Extreme Racial Disparity, October 2019 report published by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy.

The report also found 85 percent of whites between 25 and 54 years of age are employed compared to 61 percent of Blacks in that age group. That disparity is the highest in the U.S.
COVID-19 Exposes it All
Those who are employed face the third-highest income gap in the country, with the median white household income just below $60,000 while the median income for a Black household in Wisconsin is $29,000.

The state's chief medical officer and epidemiologist stood on the steps of the Capitol Saturday at the White Coats for Black Lives rally to ask his colleagues in the medical profession to join him in the recognition that racism is a public health crisis.

Dr. Ryan Westergaard said viruses move fastest through communities that have the fewest resources or tools to protect against them. That is proving true with COVID-19, he said, which has taken the lives of 169 Black Wisconsin residents. In all, 691 people in the state have died due to the virus.

Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer for the state of Wisconsin said racism is a public health crisis during a White Coats for Black Lives rally Saturday at the Capitol. (Photo © Andy Manis)

"That means that being Black in Wisconsin increases your risk of dying from COVID 19 by 450 percent," Westergaard told the crowd. "So what can we do about this, those of us who wear white coats? The first thing we can do is say it out loud: Systemic racism is a public health crisis. Systemic racism is causing people to die of COVID-19."

As Westergaard points out, nothing so quickly lays bare the health disparities between white and Black residents of the state than the public health crisis associated with COVID-19.

"The way we think about it is that COVID-19 is another layer on top of long-standing inequities in conditions,'' said Dr. Sheri Johnson, the director of UW-Madison's Population Health Institute. "Segregation of housing prevents children from getting a quality education. The lack of healthy affordable food, poor living conditions. Those are the foundation for what we were seeing today in the burden of COVID-19 on those communities."

African Americans also tend to be "essential front line workers,'' holding jobs such as certified nursing assistants, bus drivers, EMTs, grocery workers, Johnson said.

"They are more likely to be in those jobs that are essential in a pandemic, but don't have the protections that others enjoy,'' she said "They don't have necessary protections such as paid sick leave, support for child care. And those in high contact professions lacked masks and gloves. So their infection risk is higher and the protection measures aren't in place."

More than 1,000 physicians and healthcare workers attended the White Coats for Black Lives rally in Madison Saturday. (Photo © Andy Manis)

While underlying chronic medical conditions have been cited as reasons African Americans fare more poorly when exposed to COVID-19, Johnson points out that those underlying conditions occur at higher rates in the Black community because of long-standing inequities, poor housing and lack of opportunities to access healthy affordable food and safely exercise.

"Conditions like asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure don't occur out of nowhere,'' she said. "They occur because of the socio-economic conditions people live in. If you live in a house with mold, you're more likely to have asthma."

The PHI has What Works for Health web pages devoted to the best ways to improve community health, based on evidence. Economic changes such as paid family and sick leave and flexible scheduling top the lists.
Making Change Happen
"There are historic and ongoing structures that create advantage for some and disadvantage for others,'' said Johnson, who held leadership roles in Milwaukee before moving to UW. "Let's start with 300 to 400 years of being enslaved. Historical injustices have accumulated and result in the health outcomes you see now."

Dr. Zapata is doing her part to keep the focus on the issue of healthcare disparities. She is the advisor to the group of University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health students who invited health care workers from across the state to participate in a "White Coats for Black Lives" rally Saturday at the Capitol.

"Even before George Floyd was murdered, racial inequities in maternal child health have been a long term struggle and problem,'' she said.

Dr. Jasmine Zapata addresses the crowd of more than 1,000 physicians at the White Coats for Black Lives rally Saturday in Madison. (Photo © Andy Manis)

Hospitals need a long-term commitment to dealing with racism, within the healthcare system and without, she said. It starts by changing the way people talk about racism and by acknowledging that everyone has implicit bias, she said.

"Racism is more than just the interpersonal,'' Zapata said. "It's bigger than that. We're all part of a system that has racism embedded in it. Even just recognizing that is a start."

Part of Zapata's academic research involves interviewing Black women before, during and after pregnancy about their experiences in the health care system. The women are helping create a new model of maternal infant care, led by Black women, for Black women.

Through a grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program, she has teamed up with Harambee Village Doulas and the African American Breastfeeding Alliance to start the "Today Not Tomorrow" pregnancy and infant support program.

The group began meeting at the East Side Community Center with informal gatherings of pregnant women, new mothers and women considering pregnancy. They enjoy music and share a meal with African American health care providers. They also share stories of their experiences in the healthcare system.

"It allows a place for Black women to heal from micro-aggressions they suffer in the healthcare system and to be part of a community,'' Zapata said. "They need a safe space to heal and talk about these experiences."

Since COVID-19, these gatherings have moved online. But the work continues, and Zapata says the goal is to enlist the patients as "co-creators" of a community-based movement to create maternal and child health care that is what the patients need and want.

One model is the Centering Pregnancy support group model, which has failed to catch on in the African American Community.

"We're trying to get to the root of how we can shape the experience to meet the needs of Black women,'' Zapata said.

Peyton-Caire agrees.

"I really want Wisconsin to become the model of health equity," she said. "I want women who come to the Center to feel empowered, and I want Wisconsin to become the model for what a state can accomplish when it confronts the truth."

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Systemic Racism Plagues Health Care in Wisconsin. The Results Are Deadly for Black Patients

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Lisa Peyton-Caire, founder and chief executive officer of The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness, speaks in front of a framed photo of her mother, Roberta Ann Peyton. Her mother died at age 64 from congestive heart failure. Her mother's life and death inspired Peyton-Caire to launch her work.

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Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance launched to improve the birth outcomes of Black mothers and babies in Dane County

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Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance launched to improve the birth outcomes of Black mothers and babies in Dane County

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By Madison365 staff Sep 18, 2020

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After nearly three years of continuous work and collaboration between the Dane County Health Council and its community partner, the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness, to create a community-informed strategy and framework to improve the birth outcomes of Black mothers and babies in Dane County, the groups have announced the formation of a Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance of Dane County

The mission of the Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance (BMCHA), a 21-member body comprised of local Black women leaders, advocates, and community influencers, is to transform birth outcomes in Dane County by identifying, informing and advancing strategies that improve the reproductive, maternal and newborn health of Dane County's Black population.

The group will be co-chaired by inaugural members Dr. Tiffany Green, assistant professor in the Departments of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Alia Stevenson, Chief Programs Officer with the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness.

"The Black Maternal & Child Health Alliance is comprised of Black women serving in important roles in health care, our community, and as decision-makers and knowledge experts. Our highest priority is to ensure that the health and wellbeing of Black mothers remains front and center," says Co-Chairs Green and Stevenson in a statement. "As the Alliance moves forward, we are pleased to join the Dane County Health Council as we work together to advance the health of Black mothers, babies and their families in this county."

Black mothers in Dane County are more than twice as likely than white mothers to give birth to low birth weight infants, placing these babies at greater risk of significant health challenges and higher infant mortality rates. Wisconsin ranks first in the nation for Black infant mortality, and Black women in Wisconsin experience a pregnancy-related maternal mortality rate that is five times higher than that of their white counterparts.

"We are excited by the collective work we have done and continue to do to drive change in Dane County that advances the health and well-being of Black women and our families and community, said Lisa-Peyton Caire, CEO and president of the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness. "We look forward to partnering with the Alliance and the Council as we continue to write a new and powerful narrative for Black maternal and child health in Dane County and to move Wisconsin from worst to best for Black women's health."

The Dane County Health Council includes Access Community Health Centers, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, Madison School District, Public Health Madison and Dane County, SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital, United Way of Dane County, UnityPoint Health-Meriter and UW Health.

The Alliance, an independent, self-governing body, will host its first official meeting this September. A roundtable discussion with the BMCHA and the Dane County Health Council is scheduled for November where both groups will identify joint priorities and goals around the work already underway. The first annual Wisconsin Black Maternal & Child Health Summit is scheduled for 2021.

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Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance launched to improve the birth outcomes of Black mothers and babies in Dane County

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After nearly three years of continuous work and collaboration between the Dane County Health Council and its community partner, the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness, to create a community-informed strategy and framework to improve the birth outcomes of Black mothers and babies in Dane County, t

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Group formed to address Black maternal health, infant mortality in Dane County

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Group formed to address Black maternal health, infant mortality in Dane County

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David Wahlberg | Wisconsin State Journal Sep 18, 2020

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A Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance of Dane County has been formed to address high rates of low birth weight and infant mortality among Black babies in the county.

The 21-member group, announced Thursday, is led by Dr. Tiffany Green, a UW-Madison obstetrician-gynecologist, and Alia Stevenson, chief programs officer with the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness.

It's the latest effort to improve the reproductive, maternal and newborn health of the county's Black population after the foundation started working with the Dane County Health Council on the issue three years ago.

"The Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance is comprised of Black women serving in important roles in health care, our community, and as decision-makers and knowledge experts. Our highest priority is to ensure that the health and well-being of Black mothers remains front and center," Green and Stevenson said in a statement.

Black mothers in the county are more than twice as likely as white mothers to have infants with low birth weight, and Wisconsin ranks first in the nation for Black infant mortality, the group said.

In 2016-18, the black infant mortality rate in the county was 12 deaths per 1,000 births, compared to 4.3 deaths per 1,000 births for white babies. The rate was 7.8 for Hispanics and 4.4 for Asians.

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David Wahlberg | Wisconsin State Journal

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Group formed to address Black maternal health, infant mortality in Dane County

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A Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance of Dane County has been formed to address high rates of low birth weight and infant mortality among Black babies in the county. The 21-member group, announced Thursday, is led by Dr. Tiffany Green, a UW-Madison obstetrician-gynecologist, and Alia Stevenson, chief programs officer with the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness.

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Efforts ramp up to address black infant mortality in Dane County

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Efforts ramp up to address black infant mortality in Dane County

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David Wahlberg | Wisconsin State Journal Feb 21, 2020

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Improving Better Outcomes for Black Mothers and Babies in Wisconsin

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Improving Better Outcomes for Black Mothers and Babies in Wisconsin

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Spectrum News, Feb 21, 2020

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MADISON, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) - Wisconsin's infant mortality rate is the worst in the nation for African-American babies. The most recent data from the CDC shows in our state, black infants are almost three times more likely to die than white infants. A new alliance is working to change that.

After about two years of community outreach and research, there's hope on the horizon. The new Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance of Dane County is ready to get to work creating better outcomes for black moms and babies in the Badger State. The Alliance includes officials from the Dane County Health Department, hospital leaders, and advocates.

The group announced its first big initiatives Thursday. Using a $1 million grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program, it's working on a computer program that will help providers better screen patients, and be able to connect them to different resources. That system will run on Epic software, which is headquartered in Verona, and used by medical professionals all over the world.

Doulas are the second part of the Alliance's new plans. "Although black infant mortality is a national issue, Wisconsin is home to some of the worst disparities for black and brown families," said Tia Murray, founder of Harambee Village Doulas.

The Alliance decided to focus on doulas because of the empirical evidence that shows doula support can have an impact on infant mortality, maternal mortality, and low birthweight. ""Research suggests that women who are coupled with doulas are less likely to have a pre-term birth or give birth to a low weight baby than those who do not have access to a doula," said Lisa Peyton-Caire, founder of the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness.

With about $25,000 in allocated funding, they will be able to train 15-20 doulas this year. They're focusing on getting more doulas of color who can serve their community. "Black mothers, black doulas, and black birth workers should be at the forefront of this movement," said Murray.

Michaela Berry is the executive director of Harambee Village Doulas. "Harambee is a Swahili word that means 'let's pull together', and that's exactly what we're doing this morning, and as we go forward," Berry said.

Officials wanted to stress that having a doula isn't a mutually exclusive choice. Having a hospital delivery with medical professionals, plus a doula, can only help new moms.

"Really what doulas do is they fill in the gaps. When we think about the history of birth, What's interesting is that the US is actually one of the least safe places for any woman to give birth," said Murray. "When we have somebody who's filling in those gaps, particularly somebody who's filling in those social emotional gaps ... the research has identified to really produce better obstetrical and neonatal outcomes."

Dr. Jasmine Zapata is a pediatrician at the UW Health nursery. She's seen first-hand the impact doulas can have on a new mom. "I had a mother who desired to breastfeed, but didn't have a lot of support in her family. As we were talking about breastfeeding, in that same few hours, we noticed the baby was gonna have to go to the NICU for a medical issue. When the mom got up to the NICU, she was so overwhelmed. She was crying, and it was a very tough time," Dr. Zapata said. One of the Harambee Village Doulas came to the rescue. "They got there within an hour or two after I made that call, and were able to hug that mom, support her, help her understand what was going on."

Harambee's trained doulas support families before, during, and after birth. However, they're community-based: they can also help coordinate resources for those parents too. While the Alliance did all that community outreach, people said they didn't know what services were available to them and how to find them. Having more doulas serving the community should help change that.

There are so many socioeconomic factors that impact why the infant mortality and low birthweight rates are so high in Wisconsin. "This is not simply a healthcare industry issue," said Peyton-Caire. "This is a community systemic issue that touches all sectors: economic, housing, education, criminal justice, the whole gamut. We have to look at it from that approach."

Officials from the Alliance said this is just phase one of solutions that will take years to come up with and implement. But the fact that these doulas can help soon can allow hundreds of babies a chance at a healthier life. "Infant health is a true measure of the health of a community, a county, a state," said Murray. "We can do better."

There is a roundtable discussion with the Alliance and the Dane County Health Council in April. The first Black Maternal Health Summit is scheduled for 2021.

To find out more about becoming a doula, click here.

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Improving Better Outcomes for Black Mothers and Babies in Wisconsin

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MADISON, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) - Wisconsin's infant mortality rate is the worst in the nation for African-American babies. The most recent data from the CDC shows in our state, black infants are almost three times more likely to die than white infants. A new alliance is working to change that.

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'There is no magic bullet': Dane County community groups team up to fight black infant mortality

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'There is no magic bullet': Dane County community groups team up to fight black infant mortality

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Abigail Becker | The Capital Times

Feb 20, 2020

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"We heard loudly and clearly that the fragmentation of services in our county is a barrier," said Dr. Mark Huth, CEO of Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin.

The recently hired project manager, Ariel Robbins, will oversee the implementation of the technology platform and community resources to "create a more seamless access to resources" that are needed to improve health outcomes of black women, Huth said.

Second, the partners announced the formation of the Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance. This group will work to identify and advance strategies that improve reproductive, maternal and newborn health of Dane County's African American population.

The alliance will meet with the Dane County Health Council in a roundtable discussion in April. A summit is scheduled for 2021.

Finally, the group announced $25,000 from the Health Council for training and expanding the availability of black doulas, trained professionals who support mothers before and after birth.

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'There is no magic bullet': Dane County community groups team up to fight black infant mortality

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"We heard loudly and clearly that the fragmentation of services in our county is a barrier," said Dr. Mark Huth, CEO of Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin. The recently hired project manager, Ariel Robbins, will oversee the implementation of the technology platform and community resources to "create a more seamless access to resources" that are needed to improve health outcomes of black women, Huth said.

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Saving our Babies: Low Birth Weight Engagement Final Report

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Saving our Babies: Low Birth Weight Engagement Final Report

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The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness

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The Health Care System and Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality

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The Health Care System and Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality

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By Theresa Chalhoub and Kelly Rimar  May 10, 2018

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Download the PDF here.

In a series of publications, the Center for American Progress has begun to examine the multifaceted issue of disparities in maternal and infant mortality for African American women and infants. African American women are three to four times more likely to die from childbirth than non-Hispanic white women, and socioeconomic status, education, and other factors do not protect against this disparity. Instead, sexism and racism are primary drivers. While such disparities have a number of dimensions, a main area for reform is the current structure and function of the health care system. Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) created historic advances in health insurance coverage, millions still go without health insurance each year, many of them people of color. In addition, those with insurance often still have trouble accessing high-quality, patient-centered care. The following brief begins to outline the complex and various factors within the health care system that likely contribute to such maternal mortality disparities for African American women.

Several recent stories show the practical effects of inequality and illuminates how the health care system fails to listen to African American women's health concerns. The story of Dr. Shalon Irving provides just one example. In January 2017, just three weeks after giving birth, Dr. Irving died of complications related to high blood pressure. Irving-an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Public Health Service-had dedicated her career to investigating public health disparities. Pregnancy had been a challenge for Shalon, who suffered from a blood disorder that caused clotting and discomfort. However, Shalon remained vigilant in monitoring her health throughout her pregnancy, and delivered her daughter, Soleil, via cesarean section at 37-weeks. Though the delivery had been a success, healing from the operation proved to be a slow process and, among other things, her blood pressure fluctuated in the weeks after she gave birth. Certain that something was not right, Shalon continued to follow-up with her doctors, although her health continued to deteriorate. On January 28, 2017, hours after returning from an appointment with her doctor, Dr. Shalon Irving collapsed at home and died at age 36, leaving behind her infant daughter.

Racial disparities in risk factors related to pregnancy-such as hypertension, anemia, and gestational diabetes-exist and are exacerbated by stress related to racial inequality and often inadequate health care, which is not in tune with African American women's needs. However, many physical health factors do not explain the disparity for African American women in maternal mortality. Studies have shown that smoking and drug abuse, as well as obesity, do not explain why more African American mothers die from pregnancy. While there are a number of areas for reform within the health care system, key steps in reducing such devastating disparities include increased access to health insurance, quality health care, and providers that practice patient-centered and culturally sensitive care.

Access to health insurance

Access to health insurance is often the first step in receiving quality, affordable health care. The ACA made incredible progress in increasing the number of people with affordable health insurance, with roughly 20 million more people obtaining insurance under this law. This leap forward has helped millions access the health care they need, and recent studies have shown that, while access to health insurance does not eliminate disparities in maternal and infant mortality, it may play a role in healthier pregnancies and births.

One such study examined the effect of Medicaid expansion-a provision in the ACA where states could expand Medicaid coverage to individuals up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL)-on infant mortality. It found that, between 2014 and 2016, infant mortality rates fell in states that had expanded Medicaid, while rates rose in states that did not. In addition, in states that did expand Medicaid, infant mortality for African American infants fell by more than twice the rate that it did in non-Medicaid expansion states. The authors of the study suggest that increased access to health care services and contraception may have been factors in the decrease in infant mortality in Medicaid expansion states, allowing women to both access services before and after their pregnancy as well as better plan their pregnancies. Another study found that the ACA provision allowing young adults to stay on their parents' health insurance plan until age 26 was associated with increased early prenatal care, more adequate prenatal care, and a lower rate of preterm birth. As such coverage gains remain in place longer, more data will be available to evaluate the effects of increased access to health insurance on health outcomes.

Access to health care

Even with health insurance, accessing timely, culturally appropriate, quality care can often be difficult. Many women, especially those in rural or underserved areas, lack physical proximity to doctors or hospital maternity wards to receive pregnancy care or deliver a baby. Access to additional services, such as specialists, reproductive health care, and mental health care, can also be of concern. Even when physical access to needed providers and facilities is available, cost can often stand in the way for many women to receive necessary care.

Access to providers, hospitals, and maternity wards

In many areas, access to hospital maternity wards, OB-GYNs, and other medical professionals is scarce, making it much harder for women to access timely prenatal care and find a quality facility to deliver their child. For example, Washington, D.C., just closed two maternity wards-Providence Hospital and United Medical Center-that primarily served lower-income women. The closure of these maternity wards leaves many women without options as they try to navigate where to access care and deliver their babies. It also jeopardizes the continuity of care that is often critical to having a healthy pregnancy. Seeing the same provider throughout a pregnancy allows doctors to better manage any health conditions and creates a relationship between a doctor and patient that is critical to receiving the highest-quality care. Similar hospital closures across the country, or general lack of options and facilities, are leaving many women with few or no good options.

Mamatoto Village: Helping families of color have positive birth experiences

Mamatoto Village is a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that is dedicated to supporting women of color during pregnancy and postpartum as well as empowering them to be providers in the maternal health space. Mamatoto Village offers a number of trainings to those interested in community health work, including courses in perinatal health work, perinatal family support, community birth work, and lactation support. Through its family-centered approach, Mamatoto Village works to improve the experiences of women, families, and babies. In 2017, 74 percent of women working with Mamatoto Village gave birth vaginally, and there were zero infant or maternal losses. Ninety-two percent of women with labor support attended their 6-week postpartum follow-up appointment, and 89 percent of women were able to initiate breastfeeding. Mamatoto Village works to honor and support women and communities of color and offers a valuable alternative to the traditional care model.

Access to reproductive health care

Access to reproductive health care is also an important factor in addressing maternal health disparities. While the ACA and Medicaid expansion increased access to reproductive health services, too many women, especially low-income women and women of color, do not have access to necessary reproductive health care-including contraception, abortion, STI screenings, and reproductive cancer screenings-due to a variety of restrictions and funding shortfalls. This leaves them vulnerable to many risk factors around pregnancy. Recent improvements in maternal and infant health across the 20th century are due, in part, to expanded contraceptive access and use. Contraceptives allow women to plan their pregnancies around their personal health and circumstances. Research shows that planned pregnancies are associated with better health outcomes than unplanned pregnancies, which are associated with low birth weight and a smaller likelihood of receiving early prenatal care. Women with planned pregnancies are also less likely to smoke and drink alcohol while pregnant, and for women with underlying health conditions, planning a pregnancy allows them to manage conditions before becoming pregnant, reducing the risk of complications.

Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is one option a trained medical provider can recommend during counseling to women seeking immediate postpartum contraception. Unfortunately, financial barriers often stand in the way, including the fact that Medicaid reimbursement for immediate postpartum LARC is limited. Contraceptive counseling and support services for women who choose to delay or avoid pregnancy should always be offered using a woman-centered approach, meaning medical care should be compassionate and take full account of the woman's lived experiences and circumstances.

Health care training and workforce issues

A variety of health care workforce and training issues underlie disparities in maternal mortality. Many of the instances where women have experienced complications or died during pregnancy or birth include aspects where medical professionals have not been fully attentive to African American women's experiences or medical needs. Two potential themes emerge from these stories as well as the programs that are already working to counteract these disparities: First, availability of OB-GYNs and other professionals who are demographically similar to the women served is of critical importance, and, second, all medical professionals must consistently provide care that listens to women and is culturally sensitive and patient-centered.

While diversity and training in the medical profession has increased, many patients still find that cultural barriers can hinder access to high-quality medical care. One way to counteract these barriers, especially for African American women and other women of color, can be the use of doulas and midwives throughout pregnancy and birth. Several organizations-such as Mamatoto Village in Washington, D.C., and Ancient Song Doula Services in New York City-have increased access to doulas and other professionals for low-income women and women of color. These organizations have also seen very promising outcomes for both women and infants. Along with classes and other services, these organizations work to provide women with tools throughout pregnancy, particularly regarding their interactions with the health care system, and often act as both a support and an advocate for women throughout the process.

Ancient Song Doula Services: Serving women and families in New York City

Ancient Song Doula Services is a community-based full spectrum doula organization that offers trainings, workshops, and maternal care to women and communities of color in New York City. Ancient Song provides counseling, peer support, and educational resources, such as classes in childbirth and infant feeding, among other services, to help women throughout preconception, pregnancy, and their childbirth experience. Through courses like "Know Your Rights," which prepares women to advocate for themselves when receiving care in a hospital, Ancient Song provides tools to help women of color make informed health care decisions and works to address disparities in maternal and infant health as well as health care. In fiscal year 2014-15, 85 percent of women who received care at Ancient Song gave birth vaginally, and 97.5 percent initiated breastfeeding within five days of giving birth. There were zero maternal deaths.

Conclusion

To begin to eliminate disparities in maternal and infant mortality, several steps must be taken to increase access to high-quality medical care for women of color, particularly during pregnancy, and make sure that all care is patient-centered, culturally appropriate, and listens to women's needs. Some promising steps have been taken, including the availability of safety bundles from the Council on Patient Safety in Women's Health Care that address various aspects of maternal health. These bundles range from maternal mental health care to obstetric care for women experiencing opioid use disorder, with one such bundle addressing ways to reduce peripartum racial and ethnic disparities. Among many other recommendations, it suggests that health systems record self-identified race, ethnicity, and primary language and provide education on root causes of peripartum racial and ethnic disparities to all staff. Patients, families, and staff should have a clear way to report inequitable care or miscommunication or disrespect, and clinicians should use best practices for shared decision-making with patients regarding health care decisions.

Promising models such as this, along with programs working on the ground to reduce disparities, are changing the way health care is delivered and working to both close the racial gap in maternal mortality and, ultimately, eliminate it altogether. Continuous efforts to combat the effects of racism and sexism are key within the fight to keep all mothers and babies healthy throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.
Theresa Chalhoub is a senior policy analyst for the Women's Health and Rights Program and Health Policy at the Center. Kelly Rimar is a women's health and rights intern at the Center for American Progress.
Endnotes

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The Health Care System and Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality - Center for American Progress

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Download the PDF here. In a series of publications, the Center for American Progress has begun to examine the multifaceted issue of disparities in maternal and infant mortality for African American women and infants. African American women are three to four times more likely to die from childbirth than non-Hispanic white women, and socioeconomic status, education, and other factors do not protect against this disparity.

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Annette Miller: CEO & Founder of EQT by Design

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Annette Miller: CEO & Founder of EQT by Design

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As CEO and founder of EQT By Design (EQT), Miller’s is passionate, engaging the community in equity-centered efforts, disrupting and changing inequitable policies, systems, and structures, as well as consulting and modeling to provide concrete action steps that increase impact and facilitate change. Annette  brings 25 years of strong professional policy and analytic skills, and a wide network of relationships, and spans decision-making roles across state and local government and as an executive in the private sector.  EQT, in partnership with the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness launched an extensive engagement process on behalf of the Dane County Health Council to gain insight and knowledge from Black women in Dane County about infant mortality and maternal-child health. As a result, a comprehensive list of recommendations have been put into action by EQT and the Foundation, alongside the Dane County Health Council and the newly launched Black Maternal Child Health Alliance. Annette’s educational accomplishments include a Bachelor of Arts from UW- Madison, a Master’s in Social Innovation & Sustainability Leadership from Edgewood College. Annette Miller has lived in Madison since 1989 with her life partner, Mike, and three children they have raised together.

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Jasmine Zapata, MD: Author, physician, health empowerment educator, entrepreneur

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Jasmine Zapata, MD: Author, physician, health empowerment educator, entrepreneur

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Dr. Zapata is an award- winning author, public health strategist, researcher, and physician. Her focus is on utilizing innovative, community centered, and system shifting strategies to impact health outcomes for children and families in a radical way. She is double board certified in the fields of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine and works as a UW Newborn Nursery Hospitalist practicing at Meriter Hospital. She is also an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health where she is a Centennial scholar and serves in a variety of clinical, research, teaching, and leadership roles aimed at increasing diversity in Medicine and achieving maternal child health equity locally and nationally. Her ultimate mission in life is to use her infectious energy, gifts, and passions to “heal”, “uplift”, and “inspire”.

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Keena Atkinson: WERQ Instructor & Owner R'oujie Wellness

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Keena Atkinson: WERQ Instructor & Owner R'oujie Wellness

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Keena is Owner of R’oujie Wellness, a multifaceted lifestyle company that merges her passion for mind-body-spirit health and fitness. A lover of fitness and active living, Keena is a certified RYT – 200 yoga instructor and a WERQ instructor who can be found teaching classes across the Greater Madison area. Keena is also a Co-President of the Brown Girl, Green Money Madison Meetup Chapter, owner of Knaturally, a beauty and haircare business, and Co-Founder of the Uplift Innovative Youth Alliance. A former executive leader for a fortune 500 retailer, Keena has channeled her business talent into driving her own entrepreneurial ventures. Outside of work and service, she is a Mother to her two sons. Keena is passionate about building financial wealth, education, and empowerment in people of all ages through budgeting, planning, thought, and action.

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Tara Wilhemi: CEO, Founder, EOTO Culturally Rooted, Certified Peer Specialist

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Tara Wilhemi: CEO, Founder, EOTO Culturally Rooted, Certified Peer Specialist

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Tara Wilhelmi leads a local grassroots community recovery and wellness organization, EOTO Culturally Rooted. She is a certified Peer Specialist and trainer of Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) providing support to individuals navigating mental health, substance use, and trauma recovery. Driven by her passion for positive social change and thriving, healthy communities of color she enjoys serving as a connector and seed planter working on several impactful collaborations throughout Wisconsin. As a certified Peer Specialist and studying doula Tara subscribes to a “each one teach one” knowledge and skill sharing ideology that she believes is key to challenging systemic injustice”.

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Ariel Robbins, MPH, CHES, CPH: Population Health Coordinator, UW Health

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Ariel Robbins, MPH, CHES, CPH: Population Health Coordinator, UW Health

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Ariel Robbins, is the Project Manager for the Dane County Health Council Care Coordination project, ConnectRx Wisconsin. The goal of this project is to eliminate racial health disparities resulting in low birth weight and increased infant mortality in the black population of Dane Co. She has worked in the non-profit sector for the past 9 years on projects with varying focus areas including access to healthcare, health equity, and health education. She received her B.S. in Community Health from the University of Texas at San Antonio and her Master of Public Health from the University of North Texas Health Science Center with a concentration in Management and Policy. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist and is also Certified in Public Health.

Her previous roles include Camp Director for a residential camp for children with epilepsy as well as a Program Manager developing, implementing and evaluating programs for the Epilepsy Foundation of South and Central Texas. She has trained 2500+ school nurses and other school personnel, over 5000+ students and 1500+ first responders in seizure first aid.

Advocacy and health promotion are at the heart of both her professional and personal life. In her downtime, she enjoys volunteer work and is especially proud to mentor black youth who are experiencing adverse home-life situations. She is a member of the African American Health Network of Dane County and Global Shapers Madison Hub.

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Corinda Rainey- Moore, PhD: Community Engagement Manager Unity Point Health- Meriter

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Corinda Rainey- Moore, PhD: Community Engagement Manager Unity Point Health- Meriter

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Currently the Community Engagement Manager at UnityPoint Health Meriter. Corinda  is responsible for the Community Health Needs Assessment, Community Benefits and Community building activities. Her passion is healthcare, racial justice and equity, advocacy, networking and bridging relationships. Corinda has resided in Madison for 41 years and currently spends much of her time volunteering to help marginalized communities. Corinda is currently the President of the Equal Opportunities Commission, Board President of Safe Communities, President of Urban League of Greater Madison Guild and President of The Madison Network of Black Professionals. In addition to this, she served for over 6 years on the board of National Alliance on Mental Illness Dane County (NAMI, Dane County) where she served two terms as Board President and as Chair of the Education Committee.  She served as both Interim President and as Vice President of the Urban League of Greater Madison Young Professionals. In addition to this, she is served as Past President of Madison College Community Council of Color. She serves as Secretary/Treasurer of Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness. She is a mentor through Madison Reading Project and Madison College Women’s Scholars program.  She serves on the board or Vera Court/Bridge Lakepoint Community Center.  Corinda is also a trained Peacemaker in the Restorative Justice Court.

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Anne Odusanya, DrPH, MPH has eight years of experience in the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) field. As a supervisor in family health, at the Department of Health Services, she works to reduce racial inequities by supporting the self-determination and resilience of communities to inform culturally-appropriate programming. Anne is a strategy lead for the state action plan to address African American infant mortality. As part of MCH leadership for the American Public Health Association (APHA), she has planned/moderated sessions and webinars about racial inequities in maternal and infant health. Additionally, she is an author of an APHA MCH late-breaker policy statement that was developed in response to the death of George Floyd, that  The policy statement declared racism a public health crisis for Black/African Americans highlighting the life course perspective. The statement calls for support of funding for research and advocacy to address racism and development of solutions to mitigate structural racism within the US directed towards Black/African Americans.

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Adrian Jones, Public Health Leader, Reproductive Justice Advocate

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Adrian Jones, Public Health Leader, Reproductive Justice Advocate

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Adrian Jones is a public health leader and reproductive justice advocate with over 15 years of experience in community health improvement. In her current role with UW Health, she manages efforts to advance the improvement of health outcomes and to reduce disparities in Dane County through community collaborations and targeted programming. She previously served as Community Health Educator for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, worked as a Program Coordinator for the Girls, Inc. Program at Goodman Community Center, and is a gifted developer of adolescent health programming. Adrian is a graduate of the University of WI-Madison where she received a dual Bachelor’s degree in African American Studies and Women Studies with a certificate in Sexuality education. In her spare time, Adrian enjoys spending quality time with her husband and two pre-school-aged daughters.

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Tamara Thompson: Doula & Childbirth Educator, Maroon Calabash

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Tamara Thompson: Doula & Childbirth Educator, Maroon Calabash

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Tamara N. Thompson is a Black femme activist, Lactation Counselor, Doula, Childbirth Educator, and Student Midwife originally from Illinois who has lived in Wisconsin since 2004.

Tamara studied the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin Madison and is a current student of Midwifery at the Midwives College of Utah. Tamara is a founding member of the Wisconsin Doulas of Color Collective, co-founder of Harambee Village, a community-based-doula organization, and Maroon Calabash, a Black Women-led Reproductive Justice organization.

Tamara’s activism work includes the intersections of pregnancy and racism, incarceration, trauma, gender identity, infant loss, trauma, economic status, and access to human milk.

In her personal life, Tamara is a life partner, mother of eight (six from her own womb), who enjoys family road trips. Tamara advocates for (while practicing) radical self-love, mindfulness, peaceful communication, and honoring the sacred Mother Earth.

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Micaela Berry- Smith: Owner, Peace of Mind Nannies, Doula,  Certified Infant Specialist &  Health Equity Advocate

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Micaela Berry- Smith: Owner, Peace of Mind Nannies, Doula,  Certified Infant Specialist &  Health Equity Advocate

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Micaela Berry-Smith has over 15 years of a multifaceted career, and is dedicated to helping families in every season of their parenting, supporting caregivers with the tools to be successful, encouraging children to keep their imaginative spirit, and advocating for those whose voices aren’t heard. Micaela started her career as a Head Start teacher, transitioned to Assistant Director for YMCA, working with middle school programs, then to owning a Nanny agency, to being a Doula and lactation consultant.  She is certified as an Infant Specialist, Protective Factors Trainer, and  was the recipient of the MList award in 2019, for being an innovator.Micaela has a Degree in Early Childhood Development. In her free time, she enjoys laughing and joking with her loving Husband and spending time with her family.

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Deanna Tharpe, Owner,  Birthing Intuition and Wellness, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Deanna Tharpe, Owner,  Birthing Intuition and Wellness, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Deanna Tharpe is a certified Doula, Doula trainer, birth worker, a perinatal bereavement specialist, Certified Child Safety Educator, and the owner of Birthing Intuition and Wellness in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  She is also a co-founder of the Wisconsin Doula of Color Collective established in 2014. Deanna started her journey into birth work in 2010 and is passionate about helping Black Families in particular pregnant mothers.She has served as an Advocate for the March of Dimes, a member of the State of WI Fetal Infant Mortality Review Committee F.I.M.R, along with the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives, and serves as a board member for the Black Child Development Institute (BCDI). Becoming the Director of Wisconsin Doulas of Color Collective and seeing the need within the community for Alternative Women’s Health Care led Deanna to create a space for these services through the Birthing Intuition and Wellness program.  Deanna is the mother of two beautiful daughters ages 23 & 17.

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Lilliann Paine, MPH, Director of Technical Assistance, National Birth Equity Collaborative

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Lilliann Paine, MPH, Director of Technical Assistance, National Birth Equity Collaborative

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Lilliann Paine has served in a variety of roles across the public health sector, where she has championed social justice and health equity. Most recently, she held the role of chief of staff with the City of Milwaukee Health Department. Ms. Paine coordinated the COVID-19 response and positioned Milwaukee and Wisconsin as innovation leaders in tracking pandemic data. Lilliann was instrumental in authorizing the Wisconsin Public Health Association (WPHA) Racism is a Public Health Crisis 2018 resolution. She facilitated the resolution’s adoption in Milwaukee, which marked the first municipality to do so. She currently holds the consecutive record for WPHA Presidential Citation for these outstanding contributions. The first in 2019 (as a member of the Racial Equity Workgroup) & second in 2020 (as an individual person). Ms. Paine is an appointed member of the Governor’s Health Equity Council. The YWCA of Southeastern Wisconsin awarded her Face of the Future for Public Health 2020. Ms. Paine received a Master of Public Health degree as a premier graduate of the UW- Milwaukee Zilber School of Public Health. She is a Milwaukee native and resident.

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Katrina Morrison, Health Equity Director, Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health

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Katrina Morrison, Health Equity Director, Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health

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Katrina is a dedicated community advocate, who has devoted her time to addressing Wisconsin's persistent and debilitating inequities. She currently serves as the Health Equity Director at the Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health and is pursuing her J.D. at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Before beginning law school, Katrina worked at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and in the Wisconsin State Legislature for the Assembly Democratic Leader. Katrina sits on the Women's Medical Fund Board of Directors, Wisconsin Women's Network Board of Directors, and is an active member of the United Way of Dane County's Health Community Solutions Team.

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Courtney S. Hayward, MPA Government Relations Specialist, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin

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Courtney S. Hayward, MPA Government Relations Specialist, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin

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Courtney S. Hayward is the Government Relations Specialist at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin and serves as the registered Lobbyist for the organization where she uses her knowledge of policy issues and the inner-workings of government to influence legislation at the local and state level. She has a Bachelor’s in Legal Studies from the University of Central Florida, a Master’s in Public Administration and is currently working on her dissertation so she can earn her Doctorate in Public Policy and Administration from Walden University. Prior to starting her tenure at Planned Parenthood she worked in the grants and fundraising arena which gave her the necessary skills and experience to network with individuals across a myriad of disciplines. She’s originally from South Florida but has been living and working in the Madison Wisconsin community for nearly 4 years. She’s passionate about mentoring, advocacy, and helping others. In her free time she enjoys reading, spending time with her mentees, and going for long drives.

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Felica Turner-Walton: CEO & Founder Healing Our Hearts

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Felica Turner-Walton: CEO & Founder Healing Our Hearts

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Felica Turner-Walton has always vowed to work in the medical field. From age 12 as a candy striper to now returning to her first love as a Certified Grief Support Specialist as well as a Doula. Felica is currently a student at UW- Madison majoring in Psychology. Felica is a mother of 5 beautiful children, she is also the CEO and Founder of Healing Our Hearts Foundation where she works to assist African American mothers after the loss of a child as well as working to assist with COVID Relief during the COVID- 19 pandemic. After the loss of her son Zaire (2016). Felica works to advocate for mothers to have an opportunity to have a safe space for moms to discuss and share their loss and ways to grieve healthily.

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Tonda Thompson: Owner, Valore Creative Collective, She Slangs Wood, co., Founder National Coalition of Black Families, Commercial Print Model, Community Advocate

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Tonda Thompson: Owner, Valore Creative Collective, She Slangs Wood, co., Founder National Coalition of Black Families, Commercial Print Model, Community Advocate

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A brew city native, Tonda began her career, out of High School as an international high fashion runway and commercial print model. Her work has been seen across the world in magazines such as Premier Bride, Obvious Magazine, The Nation Magazine and has been seen on tv on the Cartoon Network’s Joe Pera Show and Associated Bank Commercials. Tonda’s journey into motherhood has allowed her to step behind the camera, as well as become a community health advocate for healthier birth outcomes within the city, and recently, a community woodworker. With 12 years of experience both in front and behind the lens, Tonda has earned a spot as a model who loves encouraging other models to use the best of their abilities to earn positive, lucrative earnings. Along with great photography and videography skills, Tonda has learned to help others market and thrive within their brands as models, business professionals and overall great organizations and individuals. As a woodworker, Tonda has found another way to encourage entrepreneurship within the community she serves. Tonda has recently discovered her general purpose, which is to teach people how to be self-sufficient and confident within themselves, through every walk in life.

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PBS News Noon Wedensday: Bettering Black Maternal Health 

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PBS News Noon Wedensday: Bettering Black Maternal Health 

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By MARISA WOJCIK | Here & Now

April 14, 2021

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The National Institutes of Health has recognized this week to be Black Maternal Health Week. In Wisconsin infant deaths are three times higher for Black babies than for white, according to most recent health data, and state health professionals are working hard to combat negative outcomes for Black mothers and newborns. Joining us to talk about her work in this field is Dr. Jasmine Zapata.

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Noon Wednesday: Bettering Black Maternal Health

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The National Institutes of Health has recognized this week to be Black Maternal Health Week. In Wisconsin infant deaths are three times higher for Black babies than for white, according to most recent health data, and state health professionals are working hard to combat negative outcomes for Black mothers and newborns.

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SXSW 2021 - Session Hosted by United Way Global Featuring Dane County Health Council & The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness

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SXSW 2021 - Session Hosted by United Way Global Featuring Dane County Health Council & The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness

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Health Equity through Coordinated Care SXSW Online 2021

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Health Equity through Coordinated Care SXSW Online 2021

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UW Obstetrics and Gynecology- Grand Rounds: Dr. Jasmine Zapata

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UW Obstetrics and Gynecology- Grand Rounds: Dr. Jasmine Zapata

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In the lecture, Zapata identified leading causes of Black infant mortality in Wisconsin, examined major health problems affecting infants born prematurely, interpreted root causes of Wisconsin's current racial inequities in infant mortality from a lifecourse perspective, and shared initiatives to improve Black maternal and child health outcomes in Wisconsin. During her presentation, Zapata recommended reading theSaving Our Babies reportfrom the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness.

Watch Dr. Zapata's whole lecture here.

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Grand Rounds: Zapata presents "Combating Racial Inequities in Infant Mortality: A Personal and Professional Journey"

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In the lecture, Zapata identified leading causes of Black infant mortality in Wisconsin, examined major health problems affecting infants born prematurely, interpreted root causes of Wisconsin's current racial inequities in infant mortality from a lifecourse perspective, and shared initiatives to improve Black maternal and child health outcomes in Wisconsin.

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Feb 16, 2021, Public Affair Show, WORT FM, Hosted by Carousel Bayrd, Featuring  Lisa Peyton-Caire & Dr. Tiffany Green

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Feb 16, 2021, Public Affair Show, WORT FM, Hosted by Carousel Bayrd, Featuring  Lisa Peyton-Caire & Dr. Tiffany Green

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The Momnibus Act Of 2021 And Black Women’s Health In Wisconsin

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The Momnibus Act of 2021 and Black Women's Health in Wisconsin by WORT 89.9FM Madison

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Earlier this month, members of the Black Maternal Health Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives announced the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021. What could this federal legislation mean for Black mothers in Wisconsin, which has the highest Black maternal mortality rate in the country?

Today on the show, we spend the hour with Dr. Tiffany Green and Lisa Peyton-Caire to discuss the Momnibus Act and Black women's health.

Dr. Tiffany Green is an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Lisa Peyton-Caire is the founding CEO and president of the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness.

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MAY 10, 2017, Public Affair, WORTFM, Hosted by Lilada Gee, Featuring Dr. Jasmine Zapata, Lisa Peyton-Caire, Betty Banks, Dr. Terri Kincade

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MAY 10, 2017, Public Affair, WORTFM, Hosted by Lilada Gee, Featuring Dr. Jasmine Zapata, Lisa Peyton-Caire, Betty Banks, Dr. Terri Kincade

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Why Are Black Babies Dying?

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Why Are Black Babies Dying? by WORT 89.9FM Madison

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SAVE THE DATE! Sept 24-25, 2021