MCC Celebrates Black Maternal Health Week 2024
Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW) can evoke emotions of empowerment, unity, grief, and inspiration. This is a week to highlight the Black maternal health crisis, but it is only a fraction of the marathon we are running to dismantle the racial inequities in healthcare that lead to infant and maternal mortality.
This BMHW, MCC staff and community members hosted, attended, and supported a series of events to celebrate, learn, raise awareness, and to continue to fight for a future of health equity. Here's what happened:
- 4/11 Cayaba Care's Rooted in Resilience: Black Maternal Health Advocacy Summit. Samia Bristow, MCC’s Vice President of Programs was a speaker.
- 4/11 Lonnese Bodison, MCC's HFA Program Director, spoke as part of the Foundation for Delaware County's event, A Delco Call to Action Panel.
- 4/12 Petals and Prosecco: Birth Worker Brunch and Retreat. MCC community doulas and lactation professionals met with other birth workers to connect, acknowledge, and engage with one another, and to discuss their roles as providers to birthing families in and around Philadelphia. Activities included henna, acupuncture, massage chairs, and tea blending, as well as birth worker karaoke, and line dancing.
- Black Maternal Health Week at the Capitol
- A slate of events to raise awareness included a BMHW Press Conference from members of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, and a MOMnibus briefing on a recently introduced legislative package to improve maternal mortality. On Advocacy Day, MCC staff met and mingled with other attendees, and met with their repre-sentatives to advocate on behalf of Black Maternal health.
- A slate of events to raise awareness included a BMHW Press Conference from members of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, and a MOMnibus briefing on a recently introduced legislative package to improve maternal mortality. On Advocacy Day, MCC staff met and mingled with other attendees, and met with their repre-sentatives to advocate on behalf of Black Maternal health.
- 4/13 MCC's 20th Annual Celebrating Mother's Brunch! We honored Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee, Co-Directors of the documentary Aftershock, as well as Dr. Sharee Living-ston, OGBYN at UPMC. We celebrated with nearly 500 community members and engaged with our theme of Birth with Dignity.
- 4/17 Montco Mamas' Montgomery County Community Baby Shower. In partnership with Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, Family Services of Montgomery County, and ACLAMO Family Centers, Maternity Care Coalition hosted a baby shower with families and community members in Montgomery County.
We are grateful for this time to raise critical awareness on the maternal health crisis and its affect on Black birthing people, celebrate and come together with our communities, and work together for a future of health equity!
