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We are the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center, a network of maternal health equity experts and organizations working to make real change for women and birthing people in the U.S.
Our podcast is a series of episodes connecting around culture, lifting voices and stories, exploring innovations in maternal care and discussing ways we can center equity in the way we approach our health and wellness.
Learn more about us, explore our resource center and find support for all maternal health professionals at MaternalHealthLearning.org.
For more podcast information and content, visit MaternalHealthPodcast.org.
Milan - 00:00:04:
Welcome to Maternal Health Innovation Podcast Season 3. I'm your host, Andrea Serrano, Interim Director at Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere. Episodes are released weekly, so be sure you are subscribed. On this podcast, we listen to maternal health innovators about ways we can implement change to improve maternal health in the U.S. In today's episode, I'm talking with Milan Spencer, Associate Director of Workforce Development and Partnerships at the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. BMMA is the national voice and coordinating entity for stakeholders advancing Black maternal health rights and justice in order to address the national public health crisis in Black maternal mortality. The Alliance advocates for policies and practices that center the experiences of Black mothers, birthing people, and aim to improve maternal health outcome. Today, we'll be talking about the BMMA's work towards advancing reproductive justice by addressing systemic issues such as racial and gender disparities in healthcare, socioeconomic factors, and inadequate access to quality healthcare services. Thanks for joining me, Milan.
Andrea - 00:01:18:
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Milan - 00:01:22:
Of course. And I'm looking forward to what this dialogue may bring. So if you don't mind, I have a first question kind of jump into so we can get an opportunity to learn a little bit more about the organization. So can you provide an overview of the Black Mama Matters Alliance mission and goals in addressing maternal health disparities, particularly for birthing people of color?
Andrea - 00:01:47:
Yes, absolutely. Again, thank you for having me and thank you for allowing BMMA to be centered in this space. We're really excited. So as you kind of went into, we are a national network of Black women-led organizations and multidisciplinary professionals. Our work is really rooted in the birth and reproductive justice, respectful maternity care, and human rights frameworks. We do function as the premier Black maternal health professional organization. We serve as the national voice and coordinating entity for stakeholders who are advancing Black maternal health rights and justice. Our alliance includes doulas, midwives, physicians, breastfeeding specialists and advocates, other perinatal health workers, public health professionals, researchers, academics, policy advocates, organizers and communications leads. So we just kind of run the gamut in terms of having a lot of disciplines at the table. We're proud to be the founders and leaders of the Black Maternal Health Rights and Justice Movement. What systemic oppression has not only caused in this country on a national level, a maternal and reproductive health care crisis, but it's also thwarted Black perinatal and reproductive health workers from gaining adequate platforms and resources to create change. And even though we possess the knowledge, the expertise, the skills to generate and implement solutions that will improve maternally reproductive health rights and justice for our communities, we still have a long way to go. So to that end, BMMA's mission is to always center Black mamas and birthing people. To advocate, drive research, build power, and shift culture for Black Maternal Health Rights and Justice. And our vision is ultimately a world where Black mamas have the rights, respect, and resources to really thrive before, during, and after pregnancy.
Milan - 00:03:57:
Wonderful. And I'll say one of the reasons I deeply admire BMMA in a way and how you do work is because of how many individuals and different vested individuals you have contributing to the work. And it's such a broad spectrum that I think is necessary and it speaks to a lot of the intentionality. So although I know a little bit more about you, I think it's important for the audience to also be able to gather this. So how does the Black Mamas Matter Alliance approach the concept of reproductive justice and how does it contribute to improving maternal health outcomes for birthing people of color?
Andrea - 00:04:35:
Yes, definitely appreciate that question. And thank you for that. We do try to shine a light and bring so many different backgrounds to the table and bring them into this conversation. So reproductive justice, as defined by Sistersong, is really the right to have children, the right to not have children, the right to parent those children in safe and sustainable communities. And then we also can't forget the right to bodily autonomy. So really, Reproductive Justice or RJ, as we tend to reference it, is infused in every aspect of our lives and the lives of the people and families that we serve. To that end, with BMMA, we do take a multi-pronged approach to tackling this work to advancing Black Maternal Health Rights and Justice. We do this in the following ways. I kind of want to lay out our four-pronged approach. So we change policy, and that means that we work to introduce an advanced policy that's grounded in human rights frameworks, that addresses Black maternal health inequities and improves Black maternal health outcomes. I'll kind of talk about this probably a little bit later, but right now, some of the things under this purview is expanding licensure for midwives and championing fair and equitable pay for our workforce and our doulas. We also, secondly, cultivate research. So we leverage the vast talent and knowledge that exists in Black communities, and we cultivate and find ways to bring forth innovative research methods. So then inform our policy agenda to improve Black maternal health. Another thing we do is we advance care for Black mamas, obviously. So we explore, introduce, and enhance holistic and comprehensive approaches to Black mamas' care. We look at midwifery models of care and community-based and birthing center models of care to do that. And then ultimately, we shift culture. So what does that mean to shift culture? We redirect and we reframe the conversation on Black maternal health. We really want to amplify the voices of Black mamas. And a lot of that right now is just centering joy. And being able to reframe the conversation around death and pain and really frame it as, no, we have joy and we have the ability to thrive in this country around perinatal health. So ensuring we have a voice and seat at the table where decisions are being made about Black birthing people's care is essential.
Milan - 00:07:22:
Absolutely. And I truly appreciate you lifting up the work you all do around reframing the conversation and narrative, especially when we consider how oftentimes it's almost a bit of victim blaming that goes on when we're looking at maternal health, particularly Black maternal health outcomes. And so, your work and effort to really lift up the importance of reframing that conversation, but also lifting up the aspect of joy, right? Because so many speak of being fearful now about entering, you know, motherhood or parenthood and whatever that aspect is. So with that being said, can you highlight current projects Black Mamas Matter Alliance is working on to further advance its mission in the realm of maternal health and reproductive justice?
Andrea - 00:08:15:
Yeah, so that's a great way. That's a great segue from the conversation of joy to talk about one of the things that I think BMMA is known for is starting Black Maternal Health Week. And we do this annually in April. The week is always April 11th through 17th. And Black Maternal Health Week is a week-long campaign founded and led by us. And it really is to build awareness, activism, and community building to amplify the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of Black mamas and birthing people. We intentionally hold this week during National Minority Health Month in April. And it begins, again, like I said, April 11th annually. We join dozens, over dozens of global organizations in marketing this day as International Day for Maternal Health and Rights. It's an opportunity to advocate for the elimination of maternal mortality globally. And the activities and conversations that we host throughout the week intentionally center the values and traditions of the reproductive and birth justice movements. So we are always excited for a week full of insightful dialogue, events, lively events, strong connections to advance health and the well-being of Black mamas and birthing people. We center joy. We talk about the beauty of being pregnant and giving birth, being healthy, being well, being happy. Here in Atlanta, we usually do a local Black Maternal Health Walk, which is really exciting. And this will be the third year coming up that we're doing this walk and hosting it. We also encourage our partners and stakeholders all over the country and around the world to get involved in planned events during Black Maternal Health Week. And this year's theme is Our Bodies Still Belong to Us: Reproductive Justice Now. So it's kind of a carryover from our last theme, but we felt it was still important to center bodily autonomy. And we look forward to engaging with everybody this coming April. Another thing that BMMA really holds near and dear is our Black Maternal Health Conference. And we do this every other year. So 2024 is a conference year for us. And this conference really meets the national need for a forum dedicated to Black maternal health and Black people working to improve our outcomes. And so to date, these discussions around Black maternal health have always been kind of carved out into existing reproductive, maternal and public health conferences. And it's really left a little space for meaningful dialogue. And it's always been under limited framing on health equity and RJ. So BMMA has created this conference to serve as that space to center Black Mamas' voices and experiences in all the activities. So this conference is really for us, by us. This year, we are back in Atlanta. We were in DC in 2022. So we're in Atlanta, September 12th through the 14th this year. Registration for our conference will be coming out in the spring. So definitely look for that. And if you're invested in this work, if you're doing work in your local spaces, we encourage you to come out to our conference. And just it is really a vibe. If you've never been to a Black Maternal Health Conference, it's hard to talk up. You just have to be in the room. And it's a very joyful, positive learning experience. Lastly, I do want to center our Black Maternal Health Institute and Incubator Hub, which is a fairly new programmatic effort that we launched in 2023. We had our very first cohort of learners. Our Institute and Incubator Hub provides technical assistance trainings and learning pathways to increase our Black perinatal, maternal, and reproductive health workforce's capacity to utilize best practices in perinatal care and to save the multitude of the Black lives. So we're developing our workforce using training and technical assistance. And these trainings will essentially enhance the capacity of Black-led and community-based organizations that are serving Black birthing people during the perinatal period and across the reproductive care life-force, and ultimately will advance equitable maternal and reproductive health outcomes for birthing people through systemic change at the national, state, and community levels. So it's a huge undertaking. We're in the infant stages of our Institute and Incubator Hub, but we're very proud to have launched our first learning cohort. And we're looking forward to continuing to provide training and skill building and education to our workforce.
Milan - 00:13:27:
Oh, those are all phenomenal. Now, is it okay if I ask a few follow-up questions related to each of these items? All right. So first, I'm going to start with the Our Body Still Belong to Black Maternal Health Week activities. Do you all provide any suggestions or recommendations for organizations looking to host their own event on your website? Do you provide any tips or things that an organization might be able to go to your website and say, okay, this is something I can do in respect to this?
Andrea - 00:13:58:
Absolutely. I'm glad you asked that because we do every year leading up to Black Maternal Health Week in April, we usually will launch a full comprehensive toolkit. It's open to everyone. It's launched on our website. And in the toolkit, you'll get some design assets. You'll get some suggestions on how to amplify the week. If you go to our webpage now, blackmamasmatter.org, there is a tab that says BMHW23. And if you click on that, you'll kind of be able to see exactly what we did in 2023. That may spark some ideas. But we are all about organizing and making sure that our stakeholders and our interested partners and those that are doing this work. And really want to amplify the week, have what they need to do to execute. So the toolkit usually goes out in mid to late February. And so if you follow us on our socials and on our newsletter, which I can give you that towards the end, you will get notified when that toolkit is up. And it's basically for anyone to use to amplify and develop programming around Black Maternal Health Week. We talk about the theme and why that theme is important for the year. We give suggestions on easy ways you can involve yourself in Black Maternal Health Week. Really, it is a marketing and social media campaign a lot of times during the week. So even using our hashtag and attaching that to the events that you do gains a lot of traction and visibility for the effort.
Milan - 00:15:39:
Awesome. Thank you for that information. Mm-hmm. Thank you. For the rest of the week, we'll see you next week. The phenomenal summit that will be happening September 12th through the 14th. Are there ways that organizations can still support the summit?
Andrea - 00:15:54:
Yes, absolutely. So we have opportunities for organizations to become, we're going to have vendor opportunities. So there's going to be opportunities for tabling and vendor. We're also going to have opportunities for sponsorship. So those usually start to roll out within, like we're already heavy in planning for this conference. So we encourage organizations to register staff members to attend our call for abstracts. So if you want to lead a session, if you're doing great work right now and you want to highlight that. Also, if you have research, if you want to do a poster, our call for abstracts is open now. We are closing our call for abstracts on February 2nd. We do anticipate that there may be a late breaker call for abstracts. So by the time this podcast comes out, I'm not sure exactly what will be in that process. But if you do have a desire to present at our conference. And even if you're like, you know, I have something coming down the pipeline. So maybe not for this year. Just know that on our conference years, our call for abstracts usually goes out the December prior. So December prior to the year starting, just be ready for that. So 2026 will be the next conference year after 2024. And we're always opening it up for folks to showcase the great work they're doing around Black maternal health rights and justice. So that's always a way to get involved.
Milan - 00:17:33:
Thank you. Thank you. And then, of course, my last question is around the Incubator Institute. And I know you're saying it's in its infancy, but I'm always looking to the greatness that you all have. Do you know or have an inkling about when perhaps a new cohort would open up? It won't be held to it. So I understand if it's not something you could answer.
Andrea - 00:17:57:
No, I appreciate that. So I will say, and I think you all listening to this podcast are getting like kind of the hot off the press information. I can with confidence say that this fall, so around late September, October, we will be opening it up again for some e-learning and some web-based learning. So I'm not sure if we will be doing what we consider like a full cohort, but we will have a training series. So you may get two to three training sessions and we're trying to nail down what the topic will be. So be looking for us to open it back up for e-learning in the fall.
Milan - 00:18:47:
Yeah.
Andrea - 00:18:48:
And that will be open to anyone who has a vested interest, a desire, and a professional scope and capacity to learn with us.
Milan - 00:18:59:
Well, I appreciate the insight of Milan. Thank you so much. So what are some key policy issues or changes that the Alliance is currently advocating for to address maternal health disparities and improve outcomes for birthing people of color?
Andrea - 00:19:14:
Yeah, so... So much. It's kind of hard to like, I'm going to try to summarize as best as possible, but to help me do that, I do want to plug that last spring, BMMA did release its comprehensive issues and value-based policy agenda, aptly titled Black Mamas Matter in Policy and Practice. And you can access and download the full like, 60 plus page policy agenda at www.blackmamasmatter.org/ourwork. So if you go to that link, you can download the full policy agenda. We're very proud of this agenda. It was a collective effort amongst the alliance, and it really is a document that's going to live and exist with us for some years to come. So we see the development of our policy agenda as a unique opportunity to build consensus and articulate key priorities that come from those doing this type of work within our communities. So in the policy agenda, we've organized it into six overarching policy issues. So you'll see a section on addressing structural and social determinants of health, full spectrum maternal, sexual, and reproductive health care. You'll see a section on Black maternal and perinatal workforce development, a section on criminalization of Black women and birthing people and families. There will be a research and data transformation section and Black women and birthing people's leadership section. So these policy issues are both central to the work of our partners and the work that they do across the country and representative of the matters on which BMMA really is frequently asked to engage and endorse legislation. So we do recognize that racism, sexism, intersecting oppressive forces pervade and connect each of these policy issues. So one of the things that I did want to highlight is that for BMMA effective maternal health policies must include the following things. So we must ensure that Black women are prioritized participants at every level of decision-making around maternal mortality and morbidity. We also must invest in the time and expertise of Black women who led organizations. And community-based organizations that use Reproductive Justice for justice and Human Rights Frameworks. We do want to always invest financial resources in Black women-led organizations and services. And then we then want to apply an intersectional lens to policy development and implementation in order to address racial disparities in maternal health. And one of the issues, I know you asked about an issue that's kind of near and dear to us. One of the ones that we've been working on for quite some time is expanding licensure for midwives in Georgia. So we recommend that the state of Georgia licensed community midwives, including certified professional midwives, lay midwives, traditional and grand midwives. Right now, only certified nurse midwives are allowed to practice. And that's problematic for a number of reasons, they are governed under the Georgia Nursing Board. So that's another thing that we're trying to draw out. So we're recommending to create a board that functions to serve as a licensure for midwives. There's so much attached to that, but not to get into too much of the historical context, but our lay traditional professional and grand midwives have been snuffed out over. The course of generations, right? Starting in the early 1900s, when many of these types of midwives were practicing and practicing well within their communities and really seeing birthing people thrive and babies thrive during that time. And so what we see now is a result of that workforce being pushed out. So we are trying to actively get some legislation going to bring back our midwifery workforce. And so that's one of the things. And you'll see that talked a little bit more in our policy agenda as well. And there's an issue brief on our website about that issue as well.
Milan - 00:23:46:
And I definitely think that is extremely timely. And this is one of the reasons why I appreciate the intentionality that is had behind this work, especially around policy, where sometimes, you know, when we look at policy that comes down, we're concerned about, well, who helped write this? And where did this come from? And where was the representation that was necessary, right? And so it's one of the reasons I really appreciate the work that you all do on policy. And, you know, when you talk about the issues that we know that impact maternal mortality and morbidity associated with access to care, quality care, and within your local area, you know, being able to look at the history that has come from granu and lives, from community-based practitioners and meeting that gap in need. It's for sure an answer. So definitely appreciate that.
Andrea - 00:24:47:
I just also want to add, not to cut you off, but I do want to add that even though nurse midwives are allowed to practice in the state of Georgia, they still experience some roadblocks and barriers with getting hospital privileges and being able to serve rural communities. So it's not a walk in the park for them either. And there's just a lot of work that we have to do to expand the type of care that our communities are able to access. And so that's really important to us.
Milan - 00:25:19:
Absolutely. And there's opportunity to go up because we've seen the March of Dimes report come out most recently and Georgia didn't move up in grade.
Andrea - 00:25:28:
At all.
Milan - 00:25:30:
Definitely, to be able to make those improvements.
Andrea - 00:25:32:
Yes.
Milan - 00:25:33:
So speaking of communities, how does Black Mamas Matter Alliance engage with communities to ensure that the perspectives and experiences of birthing people of color are central to the work being done?
Andrea - 00:25:48:
Yes. So BMMA, we have a number of alliance partners that, and this is intentional, that are part of and serve the community of Black birthing people throughout the country. So we collaborate regularly with our partners on programmatic activities. We do quarterly calls to share like status updates on the work that's being done in their various locales. We truly do try to maintain a pulse on local, state, and federal efforts to find opportunities. We consider ourselves a convener, so we do convene stakeholders pretty regularly, which are inclusive of community partners on issues of high value. And also, we are the work and the work is us. So centering perspectives and experiences and birthing people of color is going to always happen. We're Black women and femme-led and centered. So it really is just kind of ingrained in who we are. And it goes back to what I was saying, like everyone getting a seat at the table, the voices that need to be centered and uplifted needs to be at the table, when policy is written, when programmatic efforts, when programs are conceived and thought of. You cannot do that without having those that you are trying to serve at the table. And I can't stress that enough. So at BMMA, we walk the walk and talk the talk, and we are reflective of who we serve.
Milan - 00:27:20:
Absolutely. Absolutely the mirror of the community. So for this next question is something you've already tapped into a little bit, but it allows for you to dive in a little bit deeper. So can you discuss some of the systemic barriers and challenges that birthing people of color face in accessing quality maternal health care and how the Alliance works to address these issues?
Andrea - 00:27:45:
You know, it's no secret that the United States has some of the worst rates of maternal and infant health outcomes among high income nations. And this is despite the US spending, I think it's an estimated like $111 billion per year on maternal, perinatal and newborn care. How does this happen? Why is this happening? Nationally, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than our white counterparts. Systemic racism is a core root cause of this issue. And when we say systemic, we mean that it's in the fabric and foundation of how something is built and how it functions. So when we look at the health care system. These are the systems that we're talking about. And these are the systems that we have to access to be able to be well and healthy, right? Some of the barriers, additional barriers that I do want to highlight is a lack of access to culturally congruent care. So we need to have a health care workforce that reflects the people and looks like the people that they are serving. And we know that there are significant barriers to being able to find providers that look like you and I, but also do they do enough exist? There's just not enough. And there's barriers related to that. I mentioned Black midwifery, which was once a thriving source of maternal care for our communities, was systematically wiped out. And so we're slowly trying to bring that back. Racism, explicit and implicit racism and bias in the structure of health care. There are still notions out there in 2024 that Black people do not experience pain the same way white people do regulation of our bodies and our reproductive decisions, it has impacts on all of these things. And this has been happening historically during times of enslavement, and we're still seeing it now. There is also a lack of access to holistic care that is outside the medical industrial complex in this country, which is now operating such like this big business and is not operating for the health and wellness of people. So our solution goes back to the four bucket areas that I mentioned earlier, where we're changing policy, we're cultivating research, we're advancing care for Black mamas, and we're shifting culture. And this is our approach, BMMA's approach to this work. It is not the only approach. There's so many ways to come at this issue. And there's not really one right way. And because it's so vast, we need organizations and individuals coming at this from all different areas. I do want to center what we mean in BMMA when we say holistic care or holistic maternity care, because that's something that we really been a champion of, like from our first Black paper in 2018, it's still on our website. It's called Setting the Standard for Holistic Care of and for Black Women. And holistic care has tenets. And so to say that you are providing holistic care, you have to be addressing gaps in care and ensuring continuity of care. It has to be affordable and accessible. It has to be confidential, safe, and trauma-informed. It has to ensure informed consent of Black mamas, families, and be patient-centered and patient-led. It has to be culturally informed and include traditional practices. It has to be provided by culturally competent and culturally congruent providers. It has to respect spirituality and spiritual health. It has to honor and foster resilience. It has to include the voices of all Black mamas. It has to be responsive to the needs of all genders and family relationships. It has to provide wraparound services and connections to social services. It's not just about... Like the physical body. It's about the whole person. So I did want to highlight that.
Milan - 00:32:15:
I appreciate you for doing that and breaking it down for those that may not be familiar with those tenants. And it really just lifts up that this is beyond a transactional experience when you are providing holistic, well-rounded care to the families you're serving.
Andrea - 00:32:36:
Yes.
Milan - 00:32:38:
In the context of maternal health, how does the Alliance prioritize cultural competency and inclusivity in the initiatives and advocacy?
Andrea - 00:32:51:
Yeah, so with the Alliance, it's literally at the center and DNA of who we are as Black women in terms in this work and ingrained in the cultural fabric of our organization and in our values. I would like to highlight that our first cohort of learners within our Black Maternal Health Institute and Incubator Hub, we were able to train a cohort of close to 20 professionals, professionals, paraprofessionals from nine Black-led and Black-centered organizations across the US under the topic of inclusive perinatal care. So this is an example of like, the type of training and technical assistance we do to build capacity in this area. They went through nine weeks of comprehensive learning on providing inclusive perinatal care to their clients. Specific topics included a Reproductive Justice 101. Birth Justice 101. Disability Justice 101. How all those frameworks intersect. They learned to expand their language, how to care for birthing people and families who show up and exist outside of the scope of what society deems normal. And they learn specifically from trainers who hold those identities and are thought leaders in the realm of serving queer, disabled, and differently abled families. And so we're very proud of that. We're very proud to be able to provide some capacity building in that area because not all Black-led and Black-centered organizations are at the same place when it comes to serving families and birthing people who are different. And so we're trying to level the playing field and, you know, infuse that knowledge and that skill and those tools. So then they are able to take what they learned and pour it back into their organizations, which in turn pours back into their communities.
Milan - 00:34:48:
Phenomenal. So it's just another plug for those of you listening. Look out for the fall when the virtual cohort opportunities open up again, because this sounds like a phenomenal opportunity for capacity building within an organization to continue to better serve its community. So I definitely appreciate you diving a little bit deeper into that. So how does the Black Mamas Matter Alliance recognize and address intersectionality in its work, considering the diverse identities and experiences within communities of color?
Andrea - 00:35:29:
Yeah, so shout out to Kimberle Crenshaw, who coined the term intersectionality. And it really is just how she defines a metaphor for understanding how multiple forms of inequality and disadvantages compound to become huger barriers, and huger obstacles in a nutshell. So we get asked this a lot, and I'm glad you're asking me this question today because I do want to be able to highlight an issue that we do get asked about. So it's important in our language that we lead with recognizing the diversity that exists among us. And so the term in our organization name, Black Mamas. We mean that to represent the full diversity of our lived experiences. And that includes birthing persons, cis women, trans folks, gender non-conforming individuals that are people of African descent across the diaspora. So at BMMA, we recognize, we celebrate, we uplift, we center, we support those who care for and mother our families and communities, whether they have given birth or not. They are still Black mamas. We stand in solidarity with all Black mamas. And also, as Black women and individuals in this country, we cannot ignore the multiple ways in which we are disadvantaged simply by being born Black in this country, which is by definition intersectionality. So our race, ethnicity, gender, how we show up in the world, our different lived experiences all play a role. And how we need to be cared for for the best possible outcomes. So recognizing this and ensuring that our healthcare providers, those that are providing our care, also recognize this is super important. So that's why we use training. We use the technical assistance that I mentioned to get them there. And it's an important step. You can't ignore this. You can't say it doesn't exist, turn a blind eye to it on how the multiple forms of inequalities just kind of compound the issue, especially in maternal health. So one thing that we also always try to do, especially when we train providers within our institute and within our incubator hub, is to have them learn directly from individuals with these diverse identities and experiences. They are hearing directly from the voices of these folks who live this every day. And that is hugely important to us.
Milan - 00:38:14:
Thank you. Thank you for making sure that we were all clear on the term intersectionality. I know oftentimes it kind of gets thrown around and sometimes the definition of it isn't always applicable to the situation that I just brought up.
Andrea - 00:38:30:
It gets co-opted and then moved. And it's just it's like we move further away from what really the intention for the term was. And, you know, it's not just all your identities. It really is the disadvantages and the inequalities that you are experiencing at the various intersections who you are.
Milan - 00:38:53:
Yes. And how they all interplay in, you know, our lived experiences. So definitely appreciated that. So for our listeners that are interested in learning more about Black Mamas Matter Alliance, how can they connect? What are the different streams and ways that people can get plugged in?
Andrea - 00:39:15:
Connected with us. So we do have a huge heavy social media presence especially on Instagram and Twitter X. Are we still calling it Twitter, it's X now. I say Twitter X because we're never going to get rid of like. Anyway, so you can follow us on our social media accounts. So on Instagram, we are @BlackMamasMatter, one word. And on Twitter X, we are @BlackMamasMatter. We also have a new conference Instagram. So we're in a conference year. There's going to be a lot of rollout of information about our conference. So we wanted to house that in a specific place. So if you're on Instagram, be sure to follow BMH Conference, one word. And on Facebook, we're at Black Mamas Matter. Please do access also our website. Sign up for our e-newsletter. So if you go to blackmamasmatter.org/connect. This is the best way to get the most current, up-to-date information on our programs, our initiatives, Black Maternal Health Week, our toolkit, our upcoming conference. We always send out our hot-off-the-press information to our e-newsletter first. So go ahead and sign up for that. And yeah, just stay connected with us. We have a lot, a lot coming up. The work continues. The marathon continues. So we are not going anywhere.
Milan - 00:40:47:
Absolutely. Now, are there anything else that you want to share with listeners or maybe a question I didn't ask that you feel like, you know, this needs to get out and our listeners should know about it?
Andrea - 00:41:00:
I felt like you were very comprehensive, but I do want to plug our website. I know I referenced a few things, but if you do access our website, blackmamasmatter.org, definitely connect with our newsletter. But there's different tabs on there about our work. We have a whole hub on our website of literature. So if you're ever like, hmm, has BMMA said anything, has a position on this? What do they think about this? Go to our literature. We house a lot of our issue briefs on our website. The policy agenda that I mentioned, it is new, and we are looking for ways to be able to tap in to get it out there to the masses. But I do want to say that if you download that policy agenda, if you go to regional and local meetings, if you go to state meetings, if you go to federal meetings, and you're sitting at the table and maternal health comes up, in the context of Black lives, you have a blueprint and talking points with that agenda. Bring it with you. It lays out exactly what we are asking for in terms of policy related to saving the lives of Black mamas and babies. So you can bring it, use it as a talking point, see how it connects to your organization. It's lengthy. There's different sections. Sit with it. Explore it. And also disseminate it. So if you're at these different meetings, feel free to share it with these stakeholders who are at the table. The goal is for everyone to understand exactly where we stand and what we're calling for in terms of Black maternal health. And it's written in that policy brief. But there's also additional issue briefs on our website. Explore our website. Explore who we are and the type of work that we do. And then always, as always, listed on our website are our partners. So if you're like, hmm, I wonder if there are any BMMA partners in my area, you can definitely find them on our website and reach out to see how you can do some connective work.
Milan - 00:43:12:
Excellent recommendation. So to our listeners, if you have your phone up next to you, be sure to download the policy agenda and that information. I certainly keep my handy because you never know what space you might be in. And it's a great tool for helping to articulate the needs, recommendation and the issues. So perfect recommendation. All right. Well, I have to say thank you so much, Milan, for taking the time to join us today, you know, to share your experience. And thank you all for listening. For more podcasts, videos, blog and maternal health content, visit Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center website at maternalhealthlearning.org. We want to hear from you. Tell us what you want to hear more of. Review our podcast and share with like-minded innovators. We've got some great episodes recording now. Be sure you are subscribed. Let's keep talking. Tag us in your post using #maternalhealthinnovation. I'm Andrea Serrano and we'll talk with you again soon on Maternal Health Innovation Podcast.
Disclaimer - 00:44:33:
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration, HRSA, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, under grant number U7-CMC-33636, State Maternal Health Innovation Support and Implementation Program Cooperative Agreement. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S.