#TBT : On April 21st, 2022 Vice President Kamala Harris visited University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to draw attention to the Black maternal health crisis.
SisterWeb's own Marlee-I Mystic, Director of Doula Programs, and Marna Armstead, Executive Director, were there, along with friends from the EMBRACE program, Expecting Justice, Postpartum Justice, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, and so many more!
As we reflect on this event, we recognize that there continues to be a lot of work needed to center and uplift Black families in their reproductive journeys across the United States.
At SisterWeb, we're addressing the Black maternal health crisis by working with providers to dismantle racist health care systems thorough the Champion Dyad Initiative (CDI); strengthening community resilience and advancing economic justice for Black birthing families by offering culturally-congruent doula care at no cost; and providing a living wage, a cohort/mentor model, and ongoing training for Black doulas in San Francisco.
What can community members, funders, community doula organizations, and lawmakers do to address the Black maternal health crisis?
💰Donate to SisterWeb and the organizations linked this post.
📚Recognize and acknowledge community doula care as a skilled profession with a justly compensated workforce.
📢Advocate for legislation that supports the growth of a robust community based doula workforce and provides sustainable federal funding.
📈Provide doula organizations with enough general operating funding to document information such as time spent at births to capture programmatic improvements.
🫂Incorporate cohorts within the community doula model to promote teamwork, peer to peer support, shared learning, professional growth, and mentorship for doulas before, during, and after clients undergo labor and birth.
💙Promote time and space for community doula rest and self care within the community doula model to support the wellbeing of community doulas, their clients, and the organization.
🌱Offer mentorship and reflective space for community doulas to hold and process unique experiences from their clients' labor and birth journeys.
This blog post was written by SofÃa Carbone, SisterWeb's Communications Coordinator, with support and guidance from Marna and Alli Cuentos, SisterWeb Evaluations Director.Â