Black Maternal Health Week, a campaign founded by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) and now in its 10th year, is an opportunity to raise awareness, foster activism, and strengthen community. It amplifies the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of Black mothers and birthing people and calls upon health care providers to reflect on the role they play in improving health outcomes for Black mothers.

There is still much room for improvement in Michigan and beyond, as evidenced by the following stats:

• The Black maternal mortality rate is 2.8x higher than their white counterparts
• The Black infant mortality rate is 2.1x higher than the state rate
• Access to postpartum care in Michigan is lower for Black mothers compared to their white counterparts 

MC3 has gathered resources on how you can support your patients, including community resources to share directly with your patients.

Resources for providers

• Black Mamas Matter Alliance developed a Black Maternal Health Week Toolkit with data and resources for providers: LEARN MORE
• This collection of resources by the Detroit Health Equity Education Resource (D-HEER) promotes health equity in prenatal care: LEARN MORE 
• These Anti-Racism Resources for Pediatricians gathered by Dr. Stephanie Fong Gomez, American Academy of Pediatrics 2020 grantee, provide pediatricians with anti-racism tools and education: LEARN MORE
• The Mother Infant Health and Equity Collaborative (MIHEC) quarterly meetings bring communities’ work together to address upstream inequities: LEARN MORE

Resources to share with patients

• MC3 Perinatal Patient Care offers free, same-day or next business day access to Behavioral Health Consultants who offer mental health screening, brief needs assessment, and personalized connections to community resources and support services for pregnant patients and new mothers. Pregnant patients and those within 12 months postpartum can receive services. Available only in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Ingham, or Washtenaw counties: LEARN MORE
• The Perinatal Patient Toolkit developed by Zero to Thrive and MC3 helps mothers build skills and find support when facing maternal mental health challenges during the perinatal period: LEARN MORE
• Michigan Medicaid now provides local doula care for pregnancy and childbirth: LEARN MORE 
• The Maternal Infant Health Program in Michigan provides free support for families during pregnancy and infancy: LEARN MORE
• The Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association works to reduce racial disparities in breastfeeding support and success for Black families: LEARN MORE
• Birth Detroit offers many resources and programs for pregnant and postpartum families including childbirth education, postpartum support groups, and fatherhood support groups: LEARN MORE
• The WIN Network has free resources for pregnancy and motherhood in Detroit: LEARN MORE