RICHMOND — Black Maternal and Child Health Week will be recognized every April if Virginia lawmakers sign a resolution.
The week, which runs from April 11 to 17, aims to raise awareness that black women suffer a disproportionately high death rate during childbirth.
Sen. Rashlexe Aird (D-Petersburg) introduced Senate Joint Resolution 23, which passed the Senate and awaits approval by the House.
“This resolution is the next step for many in an effort to raise awareness about what is happening in the realm of motherhood, especially among Black women,” Aird said.
Aird and her colleagues began researching the state of Black maternal and child health in 2018 after several prominent figures brought the issue to national attention.
And in 2019, she co-sponsored a resolution recognizing the maternal and child mortality crisis in the United States. That same year, the state legislature established the Maternal Mortality Investigation Team to investigate deaths and collect statistics. The 2021 broadcast declared racism a public health crisis. She also supported a measure that would allow women enrolled in Medicaid to be reimbursed for prenatal and postnatal doula services.
“When we started looking at the childbirth experiences of women here in the commonwealth, we saw similar trends among them,” Aird said. “That's when we started really trying to figure out what the real-life crisis was and put policies in place to combat it.”
According to the resolution, Virginia ranks among the top 10 states with the highest maternal mortality rates in the United States.
Maternal deaths are on the rise for women of all backgrounds, but black women are at even higher risk. The number of pregnancy-related deaths in Virginia increased from 53 to 82 from 2019 to 2020, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Black women in the state are 1.67 times more likely to suffer a pregnancy-related death than white women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this number is likely to be three times hers at the national level.
The Atlanta-based organization Black Mamas Matter Alliance is known as the founder of Black Maternal and Child Health Week. Efforts to create nationwide compliance have failed, although Congressional resolutions have been introduced since 2018 and several presidential proclamations have been issued.
The Virginia General Assembly designated July 2020 as Maternal Health Awareness Month.
There are groups working across the state to minimize risks for mothers, pass laws, provide education, and provide services. Last October, the Virginia Rural Health Association, Danville Maternal Health Task Force, Danville Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Birth in Color RVA discussed the current state of maternal health for Black people in rural Virginia.
Most rural hospitals in Virginia have canceled deliveries and access to prenatal care is limited, said Beth O'Connor, executive director of the Virginia Rural Health Association.
“The combination of poor outcomes for African American women generally and lack of services in rural areas is creating a crisis,” O'Connor said in an email.
Last March, the University of Virginia hosted a panel discussion on Black maternal mortality, featuring various community members working every day to support this issue. Ashley Woodard, director of diversity programs and strategic partnerships at UVA School of Medicine, said the university “wants to be part of the collective that helps solve this crisis.”
“We need to educate more people about this crisis because fixing what is broken will require people working at many levels: health care workers, politicians, community organizers, lawyers, etc.” said Woodard in an email.
Several bills have been introduced this Congress to address maternal mortality. The one recently passed by the House was introduced by Rep. Charniere Herring, D-Alexandria. House Bill 781 reestablishes the Task Force on Maternal and Child Health Data and Quality Measures, which ended last December 1.
Capital News Service is a program of the Virginia Commonwealth University Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in this program provide state government coverage for a variety of Virginia media outlets.
