Summit to address Black women, birthing and reproductive health
Free Press staff report | 4/13/2023, 6 p.m.
In Virginia, Black women are three times more likely to die than white women during childbirth or due to pregnancy-related causes, according to Birth in Color RVA, a birth, policy and advocacy nonprofit focused on raising awareness surrounding maternal health and reproductive justice.
One way the group will further its goal to bridge the gap between maternal and reproductive health justice is by hosting a daylong session of speakers, workshops, and interactive learning during its April 14 Black Maternal Health Summit.
“Our maternity care system is failing Black women,” BINRVA notes on its website. “Our goal is to bring attention to unacceptable racial disparities in our maternity care systems, get out of our silos and equip all attendees with additional knowledge and tools to raise awareness and bring positive action to the issues that affect women at one of the most vulnerable times of their lives.”
“Without reproductive justice there is no justice in maternal health,” according to summit organizers. “Overall health, sexual education, abortion and contraception care are key factors to helping maternal health outcomes.
Birth in Color encourage nurses, physicians, social workers, family practitioners, pediatricians, Doulas, midwives and nurse practitioners, along with other health care professionals, to attend the summit to determine ways to improve maternal and reproductive health vitality for Black women.
Speakers include:
Jennie Joseph, founder and executive director of Commonsense Childbirth, and creator of The JJ Way®, a common sense approach designed for women and children. A British-trained midwife, she is an expert on women’s health: healthy pregnancies, healthy deliveries and healthy babies.
Ms. Joseph also advocates “for systematic reform that puts women and babies first in health care; before profit, convenience and the numerous reasons America trails other developed nations in healthy births,” her biography states.
Harriet Washington, a medical ethicist, who makes the case for broader political consciousness of science and technology, challenging audiences to see the world differently and challenge established paradigms in the history of medicine.
Her latest book, “Carte Blanche: The Erosion of Medical Consent,” discusses how the right of Americans to say “no” to risky medical research is being violated.
The Summit begins at 9 a.m. at U-Turn in Richmond, 2101 Maywill St. Tickets may be purchased at
