CLEVELAND — Case Western Reserve University’s Clinical Translational Science Collaborative hosted its first Black Maternal Health Equity Summit at Cleveland State University.
Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens delivered a keynote address and provided an opportunity for local mothers and health professionals to share stories, research and policy updates, challenges and opportunities. Participants also had the opportunity to apply learnings and share insights during action tables.
People who attended the meeting were excited to see medical professionals of all races learn about the disparities in the health of black mothers, hoping they will join the effort to end the black mortality crisis.
“Hopefully we are starting to see a change because we should all be treated equally.” We are human too, as black women we are no different than others,” said Cameron Johnson.
Johnson said the main problem she hears from black mothers in Cleveland is being ignored when something doesn’t feel right.
Tiffany James is one of the mothers who shared her birth experience with the crowd; James gave birth to his first child at 31 and his second at 43.
“When I had my 12-year-old son, it was near death. I was in pain and I told the nurse that I was in pain; she didn’t listen to me. She said, “you have an asthma attack; you’re just freaking out. My mom started advocating for me as a health professional and was like, ‘I believe she’s in some pain, she’s not in labor, she’s in pain,'” James said.
James said what was supposed to be a natural birth quickly turned into a C-section.
“It’s a good thing they did because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. So this could have been a very unpleasant circumstance. As an African-American woman in the hospital, my mom had to stay over them to make sure my incision was well treated,” James said.
12 years later she gave birth to her second son, Jeremiah, aged 43; she said she was still scared by her previous birth experience and high-risk age, which is why it was important for her to find support through local organizations like Giving Birth to Beautiful Chimneys and Pregnant with Opportunities.
“These creatures helped me through my pregnancy with Jeremiah and beyond. And it was amazing because I learned things that helped me not only as a mother, but as a woman and as a wife,” James said.
Da’na M. Langford co-founded the Village of Healing Center in Euclid, Langford said they were the only health system at the meeting.
“We are different from other organizations because we are the healthcare solution. We provide nurse practitioners who care for patients and provide care for those patients. We assess, diagnose and treat women and offer them a safe place to be cared for,” Langford said.
Langford said this summit allows these organizations to come to the fore and really show how we make a difference.
“I think this summit brings together those black organizations in the city that are on the ground doing the work like Village of Healing; our numbers right now, just for this fiscal year, as of July 1, at 94%, full-term,” Langford said. “We’re on the ground, we’re doing the work, and we’re engaged with the community. What we’re seeing is that a lot of these conventions and committees and things like that put people on the spot and in the conversations in the room that aren’t doing the work and I really don’t know what’s going on.”
In Ohio, black women are two and a half times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. Cuyahoga County has one of the worst black infant mortality rates in the country, and Cleveland ranks among the worst in the county.
“What I like is that we’re bringing racism to the fore. We’re having a real conversation about what’s driving these, this maternal health crisis,” Langford said.
Langford said this year she wants to focus on the joy of local black organizations coming together to end the black maternal health crisis.
“Despite our history, even though we have to fight and fight and do all these things. Every day we continue to rise. And we keep showing that we’re superheroes, and we keep showing that we believe in ourselves,” Langford said.
