Black Mamas Matter Alliance's New Policy Agenda

By Sarah Johanek, MPH

The Black Mamas Matter Alliance held a virtual rally to launch "Black Mamas Matter: In Policy and Practice,” Black Mamas Matter Alliance’s (BMMA) new policy agenda last week. This policy agenda articulates BMMA’s organizational stance and specific policy recommendations on a range of Black Maternal Health policy issues, including:

• Structural and Social Determinants of Black Maternal Health

• Full Spectrum Maternal, Sexual, and Reproductive Healthcare

• Black Maternal, Reproductive, and Perinatal Workforce Development

• Criminalization of Black Women, Birthing People, and Families

• Research and Data Transformation

• Black Women and Birthing People’s Leadership

During this virtual rally, we heard from Black Maternal Health policy champions like Representatives Alma Adams, Gwen Moore, Park Cannon, and Senator Cory Booker. We also heard from Alliance partners like Jennie Joseph, the founder of Commonsense Childbirth Inc., Chauntel Norris, the co-founder of the Baobab Birth Collective, Karen Scott, the CEO of Birthing Cultural Rigor, and Shanayl Bennett-Reed from MotheringJustice. 

The speakers highlighted the following calls to action:

• Pass the entire Black Maternal Health Omnibus Act to address every driver of maternal morbidity and mortality 

• Anchor maternal health programs in reproductive justice and invest in Black reproductive and perinatal workforce development 

• State Medicaid programs must be able to bill for midwives because midwives increase access to unrestricted, respectful care and have been proven to increase maternal and child health outcomes

• Pass the Perinatal Workforce Act to increase the pipeline of racially and ethnically diverse maternity care workers

• Support the Mamas First Initiative to allow doulas and midwives to be funded through Medicaid 

• Invest in community-based organizations to support women affected by poverty, mental health disorders, and substance use instead of turning to the incarceration of Black women

• Fund Black education and Black-led research initiatives, and create new research measures that are not rooted in anti-blackness

Watch the full recording of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance’s virtual rally.

Contact your representatives to advance Black Maternal Health.

About the Black Mamas Matter Alliance

The Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) is a Black women-led cross-sectoral alliance that centers Black mamas and birthing people to advocate, drive research, build power, and shift culture for Black maternal health, rights, and justice. BMMA has four main goals:

• Change Policy: Introduce and advance policy grounded in the human rights framework that addresses Black maternal health inequity and improves Black maternal health outcomes

• Cultivate Research: Leverage the talent and knowledge that exists in Black communities and cultivate innovative research methods to inform the policy agenda to improve Black maternal health

• Advance Care for Black Mamas: Explore, introduce, and enhance holistic and comprehensive approaches to Black mamas’ care

• Shift Culture: Redirect and reframe the conversation on Black maternal health and amplify the voices of Black mamas