Welcome to the Hood!
Photo(s) by Merissa Humes Photo (www.merissahumesphoto.com)
Think back to a time when you were the new person on the block. It can be difficult integrating into a new neighborhood or environment. You’re filled with excitement, but you’re also overwhelmed— uncertain of who to trust, where to go for support, and if you’ll find your people. This is also what becoming a new mother can feel like. For Black birthing people specifically, the transition into a new “hood”, Motherhood, comes with unique challenges.
In any environment, it makes a difference when the people around you speak your language, understand your experiences, and appreciate your culture. For mothers, the people around them may or may not include loved ones, but they include healthcare providers. Mothers thrive when healthcare professionals actively support them and foster their autonomy. One way to do this is through culturally responsive care, tailoring support to individuals based on their cultural identities. While it is important to receive this tailored support from their clinical team, it is equally important to receive it from their community.
Just as you’ve had to familiarize yourself with a new neighborhood to get acclimated, mothers must familiarize themselves with various aspects of support in their new “hood”. In a neighborhood, support systems can be structural—like schools and hospitals—or local, such as food pantries and community center programs. For marginalized neighborhoods, local programming is typically unfunded and underutilized. This causes an over-reliance on structural supports, which were never designed with marginalized folks in mind. Marginalized folks may experience feelings of isolation, anxiety and suppression as a result. The same can be said for structural and local support in Motherhood for Black birthing people.
There are many barriers that Black birthing people face when accessing quality structural support. Black women are 2-3x more likely to die during childbirth and over 80% of these deaths are deemed preventable. This growing maternal mortality among Black birthing people, especially following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, has caused Black birthing people and families to seek more local support during pregnancy and postpartum.
As more attention is being brought to the maternal mortality crisis for Black birthing people, Community Perinatal Organizations (CPOs) are in the limelight as a possible solution. My research seeks to understand how Black birthing people access local support during pregnancy and postpartum and their experience using it.
I turned research to action by creating Cradles & CultureTM, a culturally-responsive community baby shower. Traditional baby showers might provide diapers and baby clothes, but they don’t always address the specific needs of Black mothers who experience unique health disparities, biases in healthcare, and a lack of racially concordant care. By partnering with CPOs that understand the health, social, and cultural needs of Black mothers, Cradles & CultureTM provided not just baby essentials, but connections to culturally aligned resources and community. One mom shared, “From the time I got out of the car in the parking lot, it felt like I was at a family reunion. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. I felt all of the love and warmth from my village.”
Programs like Cradles & CultureTM aren’t just about handing out baby supplies—they’re about building trust. They show mothers that they’re not alone, that there are people and resources ready to support them on this journey. For Black mothers, this can mean life-saving
interventions; whether it’s access to a doula who shares their lived experiences or a healthcare provider who prioritizes cultural sensitivity and empathy.
Cradles & CultureTM is more than an event—it’s a welcome to Black mothers stepping into the “hood” of Motherhood. Just like a tight-knit neighborhood, Cradles & CultureTM is designed to support and uplift Black birthing people with an extended family of community, culture, and critical resources.
2024 Cradles & CultureTM CPOs
Being The Village - https://www.beingthevillage.com/
BLKBRY - https://www.blkbry.com/
Kyla Care Therapy - https://www.kylacaretherapy.com/
Open Arms - https://openarmsps.org/
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Black Infant Health Program - https://tpchd.org/healthy-people/family-health/black-infant-health/
References
1. Turner, M. A. & Greene, S. Causes and consequences of separate and unequal neighborhoods. Urban Institute (2022). https://www.urban.org/racial-equity-analytics-lab/structural-racism-explainer-collection/causes-and-consequences-separate-and-unequal-neighborhoods
2. Hoyert, D. L. Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2021. NCHS Health E-Stats (2023). https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:124678.
3. Four in 5 pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. are preventable. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022). https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/p0919-pregnancy-related-deaths.html.
4. Abouhala, S., et al. A community-based policy approach to advance maternal & reproductive health research among minoritized birthing populations in the United States. HUHPR (2024). https://www.huhpr.org/articles/2024/2/21/a-community-based-policy-approach-to-advance-maternal-amp-reproductive-health-research-among-minoritized-birthing-populations-in-the-united-states
5. Omeish, Y. & Kiernan, S. Targeting bias to improve maternal care and outcomes for Black women in the USA. EClinicalMedicine 27, 100568 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100568.
6. Curtis, J. Cultural competence in healthcare: why it matters for Black patients. BlackDoctor.org (2024). https://www.blackdoctor.org/cultural-competence-in-healthcare-why-it-matters-for-black-patients/.