These Black Midwives Opened A South LA Facility With The Goal Of 'Empowered' Births

Nicole Hamad's infant son Amari was born at home with the help of midwives Kimberly Durdin and Allegra Hill in November.

"There are ways that you can labor so that you're not in excruciating pain and it worked," Hamad said. "Not once during my homebirth did I say that I want an epidural. I knew that I could do this."

It's an experience Durdin and Hill hope they can bring to more people with the opening of the Kindred Space LA birthing center — a unique birthing, education, and support facility owned and operated by Black midwives.

Black babies born in L.A. County are three times more likely than white babies to die before their first birthday, and Black moms are four times more likely than white moms to die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.

"Allegra and I haven't been comfortable just being like, 'Wow, that really sucks. All this terrible stuff is happening'," Durdin said. "We have literally pledged our lives at this moment to be a part of the solution."

Read the FULL article Here !

January 29^th is Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Day:

EITC provides up to $10,000 in refunds for income-eligible families, primarily those with young dependents. This year, the California credit is now available to ITIN holders (those without a Social Security Number).

Research has shown that EITC is hugely beneficial in providing financial security to families and improves mental health and health outcomes, including reduced risk of infant mortality.

Please visit www.CalEITC4me.org for more information.

March of Dimes California is hosting two free, live webinars for Prematurity Awareness Month November 17-18, 2020. The webinars series will share clinical updates and public health innovations to improve perinatal outcomes and advance equity. 

The informative series is for both clinical and community stakeholders and we hope the series will spark dialogue and actionable solutions to ensure healthy and joyous births for all.

Webinar topics include:

• COVID-19 and pregnancy updates
• Breastfeeding and shared decision-making during COVID-19
• Anti-racist praxis in population health equity research
• Strategies for improving equity in NICU outcomes
• Resiliency and birth equity
• Bay Area Abundant Birth pregnancy income supplement project

November 17, 2020: 12-1:30pm PT: Clinical Practice

• Mariam Naqvi, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center: Covid-19 and Pregnancy: An Update
• Ravi Dhurtjati, PhD, Stanford: Strategies to Improve Equity in NICU Outcomes
• Karen Scott, MD, MPH, UCSF: Advancing Anti-Racism Praxis in Perinatal Population Health Equity Research

Click here to register. You will receive a confirmation email with log-in instructions.

November 18, 2020: 12-1:30pm PT: Community Practice

• Susan Crowe, MD: Stanford: Breastfeeding and Shared Decision-Making During COVID-19
• Solaire Spellen, MPH, PTBi: Expecting Justice: Abundant Birth Income Supplement Project
• Diamond Lee, MSW, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services: Resiliency and Birth Equity

Click here to register. You will receive a confirmation email with log-in instructions.

Registration is free and limited. Continuing education credits will be available. For more info, email [email protected]

The SLA/SB AAIMM CAT Launches Inaugural issue of the Richardson Review, the Official Newsletter of the SLA/SB AAIMM CAT, presented by the Integrated Community Solutions work group!

Adjoa Jones, Associate Director Whole Person Care-LA, and a SLA/SB AAIMM CAT lead, shared the inspiration about the newsletter. "I can’t express how proud I am of our team, who worked hard to put this edition together to honor our beloved Dr. Barbarosia Richardson. Dr. Richardson, who served as one of the original ICS co-chairs and was dedicated to improving the Black infant birth outcomes." Dr. Richardson who passed earlier this year, was a tremendous inspiration and leader on the CAT, known for her insight, positivity, and brilliant out-of-the-box wisdom in the work. "With tears running down my face right now, I can say not only did she show up but she showed out, with her soft-spoken self," Jones went on to share. "Dr. Barbara Richardson, we are missing you already. On behalf of the South Los Angeles/South Bay African American Infant and Maternal Mortality Community Action Planning Team, the Integrative Holistic Approaches Workgroup and the entire AAIMM Community, we can say Dr. Barbara was truly appreciated; her work and endeavors were INVALUABLE to us." 

Click Here to Read the RICHARDSON REVIEW 1st EDITION!

Join the South LA/South Bay Community Action Team on Friday, October 23rd, 2020 10:00-11:30 AM for our South LA/South Bay African American Infant and Maternal Mortality Community Action Team monthly offering!

The Black Birthing Bill of Rights, which is an advocacy tool developed by the National Association for used to ensure Black women and birthing persons receive equitable care. During this event, two mothers from our community will share their personal birth stories and Dr. Dionne Bensonsmith will inform and educate the community on the importance and significance of the Black Birthing Bill of Rights.

Dr. Dionne Bensonsmith a professor at Claremont Graduate University; paving the way for black voices in public policy, race/gender politics, mental health policy, black feminist politics, reproductive justice, and feminist methodologies. In addition to research, teaching, and mentoring graduate students, she is the co-founder and co-director of Mothers on the Frontline, a non-profit organization that uses feminist informed methods such as storytelling, ethnography, and participatory research to facilitate caregiver healing and children’s mental health justice. 

In South Los Angeles County and South Bay areas (South LA, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Compton, and Long Beach) the African American/Black Infant and Maternal Mortality rates are alarmingly high relative to other areas in Los Angeles County and the Country. 

African American/Black women, fathers, and families, advocates, community/faith-based organizations, allies, and providers (perinatal clinicians, mental health providers, doulas, midwives, caseworkers, etc.) who live in and serve South LA, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Compton, and Long Beach are encouraged to attend.

To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/slasb-aaimm-october-virtualitea-black-birthing-bill-of-rights-tickets-125517627603

For more information on the Black Birthing Bill of Rights: https://www.blackinfantsandfamilies.org/black_birthing_bill_of_rights

The California Healthcare Foundation has featured our Steering Committee Member and member of the SLASB AAIMM CAT Sonya Young Aadam: 

For Black communities, the ability to stay physically and mentally healthy has long been undermined by racism, social exclusion, and economic inequality. These challenges are especially acute for Black women, who face additional layers of discrimination and exclusion based on their gender and on cultural stereotypes.

For almost three decades, the California Black Women’s Health Project, a statewide nonprofit, has dedicated itself to improving the physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional health of the state’s 1.2 million Black women and girls through education, policy, outreach, and advocacy. It has trained hundreds of Black women through customizable Advocate Training Programs, including its Sisters Mentally Mobilized initiative, to become mental health community advocates and to launch regional mental health–focused support groups called Sister Circles.

I spoke with the project’s chief executive officer, Sonya Young Aadam, about the organization’s work, the challenges to Black women’s health in California, and ideas for eliminating inequities.

Read the entire article Here.

Black Voices News publishes an article about AAIMM's Black Breastfeeding Week!

features quotes from Dr. Tonce' Jackson, Dr. Melissa Franklin, and Asaiah Harville & speaks about our work in the community!

Please visit the link below to read the full article!

Black Voice News: Raising Awareness: Black Mothers and Breastfeeding