Dear John,

 

As we close Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW), we have been reflecting on the ways that reproductive justice organizations like Black Mamas Matter Alliance, who launched BMHW years ago, have pushed the reproductive rights field to center Black maternal health — and have deeply impacted our work at NIRH. 

 

As BMHW comes to an end, we are also reflecting on the enduring trauma and violence Black communities suffer and endure at the hands of police and the disproportionate impact on Black women. This week especially, we are starkly reminded that community safety is a reproductive justice issue. 

 

In 2021, we are deepening our commitment to Black maternal health and supporting a cohort of partners who center Black maternal health as they advance a vision of birthing justice, with a focus on addressing racial injustice and health inequities in institutions such as the medical establishment and the carceral system: 

• California Coalition for Women Prisoners — NIRH is working with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) to pass legislation that includes compensation and notification for survivors of forced sterilization who were incarcerated between 2006-2010. This legislation would be precedent-setting not only in California, but across the country — discouraging similarly invasive and irreparably harmful practices in prisons and detention centers.
• Health Equity Solutions — NIRH is building on its multi-year efforts with Health Equity Solutions (HES) to continue to advance equitable reproductive health care in Connecticut. A core focus in 2021 is the critical need for culturally competent care and doula care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and the post-partum period — especially for Black and Latinx people and infants, who experience a dramatically disproportionate share of poor birth outcomes in a state where the maternal mortality rate for Black residents is rising at an alarming pace. 
• NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland — NIRH is partnering with NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland to advocate for Reproductive Justice Commissions in one city and one municipality in their state. 
• SISTA Fire — NIRH is joining with SISTA Fire to address the systemic racism and maternal health crises faced by Black women, women of color, and their children in Rhode Island, including the particular challenges for those giving birth in the state. The birth justice work from SISTA Fire this year includes changing the way maternal health care is delivered and accessed within a local hospital and through doula care.
• Healthy and Free Tennessee — NIRH is working with Healthy and Free Tennessee (HFTN) to ensure incarcerated pregnant people in Tennessee can access adequate reproductive health care in a timely manner, and do not experience coercion or harm in the process. HFTN has also worked in the legislature to pass a resolution honoring the essential work doulas provide to birthing people in Tennessee. 

I am thankful for the work of reproductive justice organizations who have deepened the national conversation about shifting Black maternal health outcomes in the face of significant disparities. This is work that NIRH is committed to do — during BMHW and beyond. 

 

In solidarity,

Purpose. Power. Progress.

14 Wall Street Suite 3B New York, NY 10005

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