ATLANTA — There is a maternal health crisis in Georgia. The number of moms dying while pregnant and after childbirth in Georgia is among the country's highest. Black women-led groups like Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) and Sister Love are working to change that.
Angela Aina, BMMA’s co-founder and Executive Director, is among those working to change Georgia’s maternal mortality issue through service, education and advocacy.
“We know that Georgia is still, unfortunately, facing a maternal health crisis, and it's disproportionately impacting Black women and birthing people,” said Aina. “Even when I say that… that doesn't mean that even for white women, their care is even better because it's not. Maternal health care in the state of Georgia, across the board, is definitely not good.
Historically, Georgia has ranked among the country's highest maternal mortality rates. The state received an “f” grade from March of Dimes for maternal and infant health due to the high mortality rates and factors contributing to them, such as lack of access to obstetric care and adequate health insurance coverage.
Black women in the state are at the highest risk. Data shows they are three times more likely to die during and after pregnancy than non-Hispanic, white women.
“We're pushing for policies at the state level, including at the federal level, but also at the state level that supports the full range of maternal, sexual and reproductive health and health care for Black women and birthing people,” said Aina.
Aina said policies that could help include expanding licenses to midwives, enforcing mandatory postpartum coverage for up to a year, expanding Medicaid benefits and increasing access to care.
“The fact that we don't have expanded medical care or medical Medicaid and health services in the state, the fact that we still don't have enough providers in the first place, much less providers who are skilled enough to cover an array of reproductive health services, create additional challenges for us,” said Dazon Dixon Diallo, the Founder and President of Sister Love
Diallo and her team at Sister Love have over three decades of experience serving Black women and their reproductive needs. She said their work in policy starts at the community level.
“When we go out and do testing events or when we're doing screenings or when we're doing prevention campaigns, we might also be registering people to vote," said Diallo. "We might be making sure that they understand what the policy issues are that are affecting these various service needs that they have because I think that that builds a stronger base of people who are more literate about their own health care."
Both women and their organizations are focused on community advocacy and policy changes to create a solution to the historic problem.
“It is still very important for our policymakers to continue to turn the dial. In terms of investments and investing in our local, local community-based organizations and to see value in our public health system by putting more investments back into public health and not stripping our budget left and right.” said Aina. “Women across economic backgrounds, across racial and ethnic backgrounds have been saying the same thing over and over again, that they do want comprehensive, holistic care that sees them as a full human being and not just a vessel that can birth children."
BMMA will host a Maternal Health Walk on Saturday as part of their Black Maternal Health Week events. You can register for the walk here.