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Black Maternal Health Week (April 11-17)


Honoring Black Mamas 

During Black Maternal Health Week we will be centering Black mothers and recognizing their right to not only live, but thrive, especially during this pandemic. We will continue to fight and work towards better and equitable maternal health care and outcomes for Black women and their babies. We at FAM will continue to push the needle forward by supporting and funding initiatives committed to improving Black maternal health care and making midwifery care accessible to Black women and their families. Part of this is fostering a vibrant workforce of Black midwives.
 

This week

FAM has been uplifting and highlighting Black women-led organizations and leadership, as they tell their truths, letting them speak for themselves and the communities they are from and serve. FAM listens to, believes, and trusts Black women and centers the work they have done and continue to do for Black mothers and babies. So we will act as a megaphone and amplify their messages. All week, we have been celebrating Black-women led midwifery and maternal health organizations on social media (Facebook, Twitter).

Learn more & support

You can uplift Black maternal health by learning more about and donating to these Black-led organizations who are supporting Black midwives, community-based models of care, and grassroots solutions. And many more in your community and throughout North America.

Recommended Reading for
Black Maternal Health Week

 
Birth Justice Bill of Rights
Introduced this week by Southern Birth Justice and the National Black Midwives Alliance
 
Birth Centers Are Crucial for Communities of Color, Especially in a Pandemic 
(Rewire News) by Leseliey Welch & Nashira Baril
Highlighting the launch of the Birth Center Equity Fund.
"At this moment, birth centers are stepping up to make a difference during the COVID-19 pandemic.... National organizations like the Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery are sounding the alarm, stating that we 'must act quickly to involve out-of-hospital midwives in pandemic planning and response' as COVID-19 places increasing strain on hospitals."
 
"To be clear, most births do not need to occur in a hospital setting. In fact, in almost every other industrialized nation in the world, women do not give birth with doctors and are not in an official hospital setting at all, unless there are complications or a medical necessity. The question we should be asking now is, why are we? "
 
COVID-19 Is No Reason to Abandon Pregnant People 
(Scientific American) by Monica R. McLemore
"Ensuring those most vulnerable in our society receive the support they need is an ethical imperative. To suggest that birthing people be isolated from the essential support they need as they bring new people into the world should be considered only as a last resort."
A note about FAM: Please rest assured that FAM is practicing physical distancing, and we continue, as always, to do our work remotely. We are primarily volunteer-driven, with one part-time staff person. Some of us are practicing midwives, with a huge surge in client load right now. Some of us are caring for children or other family members at home. All of us have to deal with the stress and uncertainty this moment brings. None of us, during this pandemic, are at our usual capacity for productivity. We recognize the reality of this moment, and must take each week, each day, as it comes.
We know that many are struggling and facing financial uncertainty at this time. If you have the capacity to give, please consider supporting midwifery.
You can make a tax-deductible donation online or mail a check to FAM at PO Box 744, Harriman, NY, 10926.
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Copyright © 2020 Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery, All rights reserved.


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