LOS ANGELES — On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris toured Baby2Baby in Baldwin Hills to spotlight maternal health crisis. This comes just after the White House announced a new blueprint to address the crisis.

Locally, there is a big push to do the same. Dr. Melissa Franklin, director of maternal, child and adolescent health at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, says Black women are four times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications in the county.

Dr. Franklin and additional members of the AAIMM Prevention Initiative members were interviewed on Spectrum News;

“The AAIMM Initiative… is our work to address birth inequity - the injustice of Black mamas, birthing folks and babies dying at higher rates than any other race,” said Dr. Franklin.

VIEW CLIP HERE

The Black Maternal Health Center of Excellence, a part of Charles R. Drew University of Science and Medicine, is working to address the issue by offering free and low-cost services to include prenatal and postpartum care.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL SPECTRUM INTERVIEW

In addition, did you check out our Spectrum News segment during Black Maternal Health Week 2023. Adjoa Jones, director of outreach and engagement, LA County AAIMM, and Janette Robinson Flint, founder and executive director of Black Women for Wellness, were also interviewed – check out the Instagram Reel to see the full interview.