Wait...What?! Racial Disparities in Maternal Health

Описание: “Wait…What?!” is a bi-monthly discussion offering a chance for our community to convene on emerging issues we all face, albeit with varied challenges.
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For additional resources, visit mywomensfund.org/racial-disparities-maternal-health
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This panel discussion will center on Racial Disparities in Maternal Health. April 11-17 has been designated Black Maternal Health Week during Black Minority Health Month.  This year acknowledges the fourth annual national Black Maternal Health Week campaign founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance.

The discussion will include:
Strategies for pregnant folks on advocating for care, specifically pregnant folks from Black communities
Awareness for the connection between lack of appropriate and timely care with maternal morbidity and infant loss
Education on how to establish a team of caregivers from the range of options available to pregnant folks including nurse midwives, doulas, families, and community members
Ways to address provider bias and racial microaggressions produced by structural racism in medical care and the existing barriers to receiving pre- and post-natal care

Meet the panelists—
Dayna Campbell is an Assistant Professor at American International College in the School of Health Sciences, Public Health program in Springfield, and Adjunct Instructor at Holyoke Community College in the Foundations of Health, Community Health Worker certificate program. She is currently the President of the Board of Directors and co-Executive Director of the Women of Color Health Equity Collective (formerly MotherWoman, Inc.) a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the empowerment and resilience of Women of Color, families, and communities. Dayna is a trainer in cultural humility and community-based participatory research and has spent the last two decades training future public health professionals, especially in the areas of population health, health education and promotion, and program planning and development. Dayna is an experienced lecturer, trainer, and researcher in the areas of diversity and inclusion, cultural humility, culturally responsive planning, and evaluation, and disparities in health status and outcomes. Women’s health has dominated her research, particularly as it relates to reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes. She received her Graduate degrees from the Arnold School of Public Health at theUniversity of South Carolina.

Tonja Santos has worked as a Nurse Midwife caring for women and families in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area for almost 20 years. For half that time, she has been Assistant Director of the Division of Midwifery and is faculty at the Baystate Midwifery Education Program. She has also been a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner for the State of Massachusetts. She recently established, obtained leadership and financial support for, and now chairs the Racial Disparities and Health Equity Committee for the Department of OB/Gyn at Baystate, with the goal of improving maternal and infant outcomes for BIPOC through clinical, systemic, and cultural change. She has a great interest in quality initiatives and case review processes and was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Maternal Mortality Review Committee, which is a state-wide effort to identify trends and guide improvements. She is also a mother of two, a knitter, and loves camping. She recently designed a series of palm-sized knitted dolls she calls the “Inaugural Series” that includes Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama, Amanda Gorman, Bernie Sanders, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Marisa oversees all Civil Liberties and Public Policy (CLPP) programs, including CLPP’s emerging leaders network, campus programs, and summer internship program. Prior to CLPP, Marisa co-directed the Prison Birth Project and the Mothers of Color Awareness Initiative. She has served on locally-based organizational boards, most recently joining the Abortion Rights Fund of Western Mass. Since 2016, Marisa has facilitated a support group for people who’ve had an abortion later in pregnancy due to fetal anomalies. She has a Master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a BA in public policy and women’s studies from the University of North Carolina. Raised in eastern North Carolina, Marisa has lived in Western Mass since 2005. She shares her life with her husband, three children, and their pets.