EMBRACE sponsors Black Maternal Health Wellness week

On Monday, April 14, Pitt’s EMBRACE and Healthy Start sponsored a Black Maternal Health Wellness Event at the Pittsburgh Community Engagement Center on Homewood Ave. Because Black women’s maternal health is not institutionally prioritized, this event highlighted resources and self-care for anyone in need. 

The event had several interactive activities, including African dance, line dancing, somatic yoga, prenatal yoga, painting and nutritional panels open to the public at no cost. About 40 people attended numerous activities throughout the day to learn more about Black maternal wellness.

As part of Black Maternal Health Week, an initiative established by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance in 2018, the event “aimed to celebrate and support Black women and pregnant people,” according to Iris Ryn Olson, a Pitt research associate. 

“This event is one of many events throughout Pittsburgh this week supporting Black maternal health,” Olson said. “EMBRACE’s event is unique in that it is meant to celebrate and support Black women and pregnant people through community wellness.” 

The event had 16 tables with a multitude of local and national organizations, including DAWA, Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, The Midwife Center for Birth & Women’s Health and Gwen’s Girls. 

Tayler Clemm, founder of DAWA, had a panel focusing on the nourishment of broth and smoothies. Clemm emphasized that her mission is for each household to have a “DAWA mama,” or “medicine woman,” which involves “reclaiming [women’s] joy through ancestral wellness.” 

“DAWA mama is a woman who returns to nature to help herself, her family and her community,” Clemm said. “So your womb is a sacred, powerful space that we have to reclaim because there has been a lot of harm done to it.” 

The Midwife Center takes care of its clients by providing gynecological care, prenatal care, childbirth care, behavioral health and breastfeeding support. Emily Fear, community engagement coordinator for center, explained that it is “the region’s only freestanding birthing center with a midwife-led model of care.” 

“We do not have doctors, [but] we have certified nurse midwives and nurse practitioners who facilitate natural births at our birthing center,” Fear said. “We also provide the full range of gynecological services also managed and overseen by our midwives.” 

Due to the maternal health crisis in America, especially for Black women, Fear said The Midwife Center aims to help conquer common difficulties. The center focuses on empowering women to make birthing decisions for their own bodies. 

“The midwife model of care has been shown to directly combat those outcomes because midwives are going to center the person in what they need,” Fear said. “And that starts with … reminding people who come in that this is a natural process that their body is able to do.”  

The Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh offers “help, healing, and hope” to children and adults facing domestic violence, according to their website. Janice Goldsborough, medical advocacy coordinator at the center, described how the organization serves people who experience violence or other forms of danger. 

“Our center [helps] people and their children who are survivors of intimate partner violence,” Goldsborough said. “We do prevention and education in the community with healthcare providers … community partners and individuals.” 

Similarly dedicated to helping girls, Gwen’s Girls notes on their website that the organization is “dedicated to the transformation of girls” across Allegheny County. Sara Nevels, a community engagement worker for Gwen’s Girls, explained how the organization works with girls of all races from ages eight to 18 in a multitude of ways. 

“We do a lot of self-empowerment, self-advocacy, life skills, self-awareness and healthy relationships with peers, self, community and family,” Nevels said. “And [these] issues that are relevant and adversely impact Black girls.” 

Gwen’s Girls focuses on women because, according to the State of Girls, 42% of girls in the United States live in low-income families, with one in five below the poverty line. Growing up in these conditions can make one more likely to experience physical, behavioral and emotional struggles. 

Gwen’s Girls strives to educate women and support young adults in the region to improve their quality of life. 

As part of Black Maternal Health Week, Clemm highlighted an event, “Birth with Joy Community Day” for “womb wellness,” that will be on Thursday, April 17, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center.

“We’ll be able to learn how to ancestrally take care for the woman before, during and after birth,” Clemm said. “That’s what Black maternal health is, it’s just about making sure we are well and we’re reclaiming our ancestral wisdom around taking care of ourselves.”