CLEVELAND — The Clinical Translational Science Collaborative at Case Western Reserve University hosted its first Black Maternal Health Equity Summit at Cleveland State University.
Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens delivered a keynote address and gave local mothers and medical professionals a chance to share stories, research and policy updates, challenges and opportunities. Participants also had the opportunity to apply their learnings and share insights during action tables.
People who attended the summit were excited to see medical professionals of all races learning about the disparities in Black maternal health, hoping they would join the effort to end the Black mortality crisis.
“Hopefully we do begin seeing change, because we should all be treated equally. We are human also, as Black women we are no different from anyone else,” said Cameron Johnson.
Johnson said the main issue she hears from Black mothers in Cleveland is being ignored when something doesn’t feel right.
Tiffany James is one of the mothers who told her birthing experience to the crowd; James had her first child at 31 years old and her second at the age of 43.
“When I had my 12-year-old son, it was almost a mortality. I was in pain, and I kept telling the nurse that I was in pain; she was not listening to me. She said, 'You’re having an asthma attack; you're just freaking out.' My mother began to advocate for me as a health care professional and say 'I believe that she's having some pain, she's not in labor, she's having pain,'” said James.
James said what was supposed to be a natural birth quickly turned into a C-section.
“It's a good thing they did that because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. So, that could have been a very unfortunate circumstance. As an African-American woman in the hospital, my mother had to stay on top of them to make sure that my incision was properly cared for,” said James.
Twelve years later, she had her second son, Jeremiah, at the age of 43. She said she was still frightened from her previous birthing experience and high-risk age, which is why it was important for her to find support through local organizations like Birthing Beautiful Comminutes. and Pregnant with Possibilities.
“These entities helped me walk through my pregnancy with Jeremiah and even thereafter. And it has been amazing because I have learned things that have helped me not just as a mom but as a woman and as a wife,” said James.
Da’na M. Langford is the co-founder of the Village of Healing Center in Euclid. Langford said they were the only healthcare provider on the Voices of Mothers panel.
“We are different than the other organizations because we are the solution to health care. We provide nurse practitioners that are caring for patients and providing care for those patients. We are assessing, diagnosing and treating women, and offering them a safe place to be cared for,“ said Langford.
Langford said this summit allows those organizations to come to the forefront and truly show how we make a difference.
"I think this summit is bringing together those Black organizations in the city that are on the ground doing the work like Village of Healing; our numbers right now, just for this fiscal year, as of July 1, with a 94%, full-term birth rate," said Langford. "We are on the ground doing the work and committed to the community. What we're seeing is that a lot of these convenings and committees and things like that are putting people in place and in the conversation in the room that aren't doing the work and don't truly know what's going on."
In Ohio, Black women are two and a half times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. Cuyahoga County has one of the worst Black infant mortality rates in the country, and Cleveland ranks among the worst in the county.
“What I like is that we're bringing racism to the forefront. We're having the real conversation of what's driving these, this maternal health crisis,” said Langford.
Langford said this year she wants to focus on the joy of the local Black organizations that are coming together to end the Black maternal health crisis.
“Despite our history, despite having to struggle and fight and do all those things. Every day, we continue to rise. And we continue to show that we are superheroes, and we continue to show that we believe in ourselves," said Langford.
