Black Maternal Health Week is April 11-17: Here’s some food for thought about the health of Black parents and babies vs. their white counterparts.

By Juliet Martinez

Photo: Brandy Gentry became a certified birth and bereavement doula and founded Oli’s Angels to give others the support she needed and lacked after her son was stillborn in 2010. Courtesy of Brandy Gentry

This story is published in partnership with the Pittsburgh Community Newspaper Network (PCNN). It was originally printed in The Homepage, the hyperlocal community newspaper serving Greater Hazelwood, Greenfield, Glen Hazel, New Homewood, the 31st Ward and The Run. It has been lightly edited for style and clarity.

Black Maternal Health Week is April 11-17, and as it approaches, advocates for the health of Black parents and babies are raising an alarm. Data released by the CDC earlier this year showed Black birthing people died within six weeks of giving birth at three times the rate of white people who had recently been pregnant. 

Before the pandemic, a gender equity report showed that Black infants and birthing parents in Pittsburgh were already at higher risk of death than their white counterparts. The organization Black Mamas Matter Alliance said in a statement that this comes from unequal access to care, conflicting policies, and outright negligence.

The Atlanta-based nonprofit promotes policy changes, research and reframing of the conversation around Black maternal health, as well as holistic care for Black birthing people. The statement calls for policymakers to commit to equitable health policies at all levels, guided by input from those most invested in the health of Black parents and babies.  

“As always, we must look and listen to the many Black women doctors, nurses, midwives, doulas, scholars, researchers, and organizers who are working to rebuild trust and provide quality care for Black Mamas within their communities,” the statement said. 

Brandy Gentry works on this every day. Gentry is a doula, which means she is a trained support person during pregnancy, childbirth, and the first months with a new baby. Gentry became a doula to give others the support she needed and lacked during pregnancy and after her son was stillborn in 2010. She became a certified birth and bereavement doula and founded Oli’s Angels, a nonprofit offering free wraparound services to low-income and at-risk families before, during, and after birth. She also runs the doula program at the Allegheny County Jail. She says interdisciplinary care for all pregnant people would help address the disparities between Black and white maternal health. In this model, community support like doulas, social workers, dieticians, and therapists would be bundled with medical care.  

Gentry said during a phone call in March that doctors simply can’t do it all: Pregnant people need community support to stay healthy. And they need to communicate well with doctors, who sometimes have implicit biases.  

Gentry said she teaches her clients to ask questions and take their time to think things over in prenatal appointments in order to interact, she says, in a way that keeps patients safe.  

“[Patients] should never leave an appointment without asking at least one question,” she said. “It creates a more informed experience, which keeps them so much safer.”