Black Maternal Health Week is April 11th through 17th, 2023. This is the 6th annual observance and the event is created and led by Black led maternal health organizations and Black perinatal professionals. The focus of this week is to lift up Black birthing parents and center resources that create positive and healthy pregnancy, birth, and early parenting experiences for Black parents and babies. The purpose of Black Maternal Health Week, led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, is to “collectively work toward a future where ALL Black Mamas have the rights, respect, and resources to thrive throughout their lives-including in their reproductive years. This year's theme is 'Our Bodies Belong to Us: Restoring Black Autonomy and Joy.'”

Information available from the Centers for Disease Control, and aggregated by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance shows how deeply impacted Black families are by institutional, scientific and structural racism, lower quality healthcare, implicit bias from health care providers, underlying chronic conditions and generational trauma:

• Three times higher maternal morbidity and mortality rate than white peers
• Two times higher infant mortality than white peers
• Greater incidence of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, with less access to treatment and clinical support
• Lower breast/chestfeeding rates, less exclusive bodyfeeding and shorter rates of babies receiving human milk due to lack of access to professional lactation support during postpartum stays and after discharge, unsupportive hospital policies and practices, inflexible workplace policies, lack of familial support and cultural norms.
• Overall reduced access to reproductive health care and contraception, including STI screenings, and abortion options.
• COVID-19 related deaths have impacted Black populations disproportionately and illness rates during pregnancy put Black parents at increased risk of complications and long term negative outcomes.

Perinatal educators can participate in, learn from, and support the Black maternal health leaders who are generously sharing a robust and rich collection of events, dialogues, learning opportunities and programming centering and celebrating Black pregnant and postpartum people. Find the entire schedule of national events here and drill down to local events in your area here. Educators should include birth equity topics in their childbirth education curriculum for all the parents in their classes, and provide current and accessible community resources for Black families to utilize during pregnancy and early parenting. 

Black Maternal Health Week is once a year, but the focus and attention needs to be an every day constant to reduce inequities faced by Black people growing their families. It is critical to create safe and healthy opportunities for Black families during the childbearing year. Lives depend upon it.

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