According to the Centers for Disease Control, 80% of all maternal deaths are preventable. In Maryland, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts.
To address this crisis, philanthropists and health officials are coming together to launch the Birth Equity Collaborative.
“We've funded a lot of programs,” said Elizabeth Kromm, director of Health Promotion, at the Maryland Health Department (MDH). “We've started a lot of promising projects, but we still have these disparities that remain, especially for Black women. We need to find out how to eliminate these disparities, and that’s the mission of this group.”
While there is no dollar amount, various foundations have pledged their support.
“We are trying to understand how we increase access to quality birthing services in the state, prioritize racial equity in the conversation, explore policy solutions, and bolster community rooted actors who are already providing services to birthing people,” said Nikki Vernick, CEO of Horizon Foundation, a principal funder. “While we don’t have precise funding numbers yet, we are focused on our goals and values.”
These goals include training and expanding the network of birth workers, such as midwives, mental health providers, lactation specialists, and doulas. It could involve dispatching home health aides to check-in on pregnant mothers through the postpartum period.
Tanay Harris, director and co-founder of The Bloom Collective, a Baltimore-based organization providing holistic services from pregnancy through postpartum, hopes the collaborative will really be community-led. She believes “intentional investments” must be made towards grassroots groups like hers, to address disparities in the maternal health landscape effectively.
“Sometimes some of these folks are waiting a long time for insurance reimbursement, and so that messes with their workforce and their workflow,” Harris explained. “We need larger investments to sustain these grassroots efforts that are already making a difference, even with limited budgets and no federal funding.”
Other states including New Jersey, Washington and Illinois have also implemented models to tackle the maternal health crisis.
