Members of our Family Connects team (Tamarah James, RN, Katheryn Garcia, and Alyson Jacobson) attended the Maternal Health Summit hosted by Prince George’s County Executive Aisha N. Braveboy and Council Chair Krystal Oriadha. This summit gathered powerful local leaders and advocates and direct service staff that are committed to improving maternal health and reproductive justice in Prince George’s County.
Our team heard from panelists who shared their real-life experiences of losing a partner, daughter, or mother to preventable pregnancy-related complications. We learned there has been little improvement over time in narrowing the gap of health disparities between people of color and their white counterparts. Women of color, especially brown and black women, are 4x more likely to experience serious or life threatening complications due to pregnancy! All agreed that one preventable loss is too many, and the cost of one loss can not be calculated.
One of the highlights was hearing the keynote speaker, Omari Maynard, a Brooklyn NY artist tell about losing his life partner to maternal health complications in 2019 and how he has devoted his time to painting commemorative paintings of women of color that have passed away in childbirth or during the perinatal period. He has also started a support group for men that have lost their partners due to pregnancy. Learn more about those programs at In Her Honor Project and The ARIAH Foundation.
We all agree with Council Member Oriadha when she said, “The time is now.” Members from our team will be joining the Health Department’s upcoming Action Committee on improving all maternal health outcomes in our community. This summit was held during Black Maternal Health Week, a week-long campaign founded and led by BMMA, Inc. (Black Mamas Matter Alliance) to build awareness, foster activism, and community-building, amplifying the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of Black Mamas and birthing people.
Family Connects Prince George’s is a vital service to parents of newborns, offering a FREE and relaxed in-home visit with a Registered Nurse that specializes in postpartum recovery, breastfeeding, and infant bonding. Having a newborn is both joyful and difficult. Parents often say that this one visit with a Family Connects nurse has made them feel less anxious and more confident about parenting their newborn. Learn more about Family Connects today and share with your loved ones!
