Abstract
The Urban Institute collaborated with the National Birth Equity Collaborative, a national nonprofit organization that creates solutions that optimize Black maternal and infant health, to produce a research brief that centers Black expertise, experiences, and voices in the Black maternal health crisis. This brief shares findings from key informant interviews and established research recommendations to provide policy and programmatic strategies for addressing maternal health disparities both in DC and nationally.
Though no single policy solution will solve this public health crisis, the report suggests four ways to begin addressing the Black maternal health crisis:
- Address racism within the healthcare system
- Increase access to Black-led community-based providers
- Create accountability mechanisms to better understand why Black mothers die at a higher rate than white mothers
- Center Black women’s leadership by passing comprehensive maternal health legislation
Authors: Ebonie Megibow, MPH, Peace Gwam, Dawn Godbolt, PhD, Alise Powell, Joia Crear-Perry, MD
Publication Date: April 2021