Dr. Sasha James-Conterelli sits down to talk about Maternal Mortality, and Racial Inequities

April 11- 17th, 2022 marks the fifth Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW) campaign. The week is led and founded by Black Mamas Matter Alliance. Taken from their website: 

BMHW: a week of awareness, activism, & community building intended to:

Deepen the national conversation about Black maternal health in the US;

Amplify community-driven policy, research, and care solutions;

Center the voices of Black Mamas, women, families, and stakeholders;

Provide a national platform for Black-led entities and efforts on maternal health, birth and reproductive justice; and

Enhance community organizing on Black maternal health.

The BMHW 2022 theme, “Building for Liberation: Centering Black Mamas, Black Families and Black Systems of Care”. 

All this week, I partnered with my fellow doulas at Birth Tribe to bring you important information, voices from Black Mamas and those working tirelessly to bring forth necessary change. I wanted to encourage you to push yourself to show up. Really show up for your community. If you are a Black Mama, please use your voice, and share your story. If you are not, use your heart to listen. Together we can make a difference. It can start here, one person at a time, then one community, then another and another.

As part of BMHW, I really wanted to bring an expert to you to have a conversation with us about things like Maternal Mortality, Racial Inequities, Education and Health Care. I reached out to Dr. Sasha James-Conterelli to ask her if she’d be willing to sit down with a colleague of mine to go in depth about this topics. Fortunately she obliged.

Sascha James-Conterelli born on the island of St. Croix US Virgin Islands. She received her bachelor’s in nursing from Howard University and her masters in midwifery and doctorate from New York University. She has been practicing midwife since 2002. She is currently an assistant professor and chair of the Graduate Entry Prespecialty in Nursing (GEPN) program at Yale School of Nursing. Dr. James-Conterelli’s professional journey has been unique and broad reaching with practice settings in both the public and private sector. Dr. James-Conterelli is the immediate past president of ACNM’s New York State affiliate; New York Midwives (NYM/NYSALM). She is also honored to continue to have opportunities to provide knowledge and expertise to many national and local policies such as the development of perinatal regionalization for New York State, serving as co-chair on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Maternal Mortality and Racial Disparities Task Force as well as a member of New York State’s Maternal Mortality Steering Committee and New York State Maternal Mortality Review Board. Most recently Dr. James-Conterelli served as a member of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s COVID-19 Maternity Task Force.

It’s my pleasure and honor to offer this conversation to all of you. The entire recording is here for you to view. I hope you not only enjoy this important conversation, but walk away with a better understanding that racism and discrimination is systematic and multifactorial. I am grateful Dr. James-Conterelli was so generous with her time, and that we were able to bring you this content at no cost. We would encourage you to consider making a donation to Black Mamas Matter Alliance, founder of Black Maternal Health Week. You can make a donation at: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Black-Mamas-Matter-Alliance

*Birth Tribe is hosting this fundraiser independent of Black Mamas Matter Alliance. We are responsible for delivering these funds to MMA. Any questions or concerns about this fundraiser should be directed to myself via info@harmonybirths.com As you continue learning, be courageous in your accountability, be fierce in your advocacy, and show up for Black Birthing Folks in ways that move the needle toward justice. 

Below you’ll find the resources and instagram accounts mentioned in this interview.

@meandmydoula

@harmonybirths

@blackmamasmatter

@cdc

American College of Nurse Midwives- www.midwife.org

To learn more about Dr. James-Conterelli here.