OKAY, BABE, THE BABY BIRD LOOKING AT NINE YEAR OLD AIDAN AND LISTENING TO HIM READ LITTLE MOMENTS THAT ARE A BIG BLESSING FOR ANNA, RODNEY, HER LITTLE BOY, IS THRIVING TODAY, BUT HIS ENTRANCE INTO THIS WORLD WAS TRAUMATIC. LITTLE AIDAN SPENT SIX MONTHS IN THE NICU, AND ANNA SAYS SHE HAD THREE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES WHILE TRYING TO BRING HIM INTO THIS WORLD. I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME AND IT ACTUALLY WASN’T UNTIL MY SISTER, WHO WAS PREGNANT AT THE SAME TIME AS ME, PASSED AWAY IN HER POSTPARTUM PERIOD WHEN I WAS JUST LIKE, SOMETHING IS WRONG. THIS CANNOT BE NORMAL. WHAT IS GOING ON? AND THAT’S WHEN I STARTED TO SEE THE NUMBERS AND THE STATISTICS AROUND WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY AND BIRTH. THE CDC REPORTS BLACK WOMEN ARE THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO DIE PREGNANCY RELATED DEATHS THAN WHITE WOMEN. REASONS RANGE FROM UNDERLYING CONDITIONS TO LACK OF ACCESS TO QUALITY CARE, TO RACISM AND IMPLICIT BIAS. RIGHT NOW, A LOT OF BLACK WOMEN, WHEN THEY FIND OUT THEY’RE PREGNANT, THEY DON’T FEEL JOY. THEY FEEL FEAR. THEY ARE MET WITH ALL OF THESE STATISTICS AND STORIES AND THAT WE REALLY DESERVE TO BE JOYFUL AND CELEBRATED AND EXCITED. THAT’S WHY ANNA FOUNDED MOM CARE’S BACK IN 2017. IT’S A MATERNAL HEALTH ORGANIZATION THAT PROVIDES FREE DOULA SERVICES, DIAPERS, BABY CARE ESSENTIALS, TRANSPORTATION STIPENDS AND MONTHLY CARE PACKAGES, AND MORE FOR BLACK MOTHERS TO HELP THEM THROUGH THEIR PREGNANCY, BIRTH AND MOTHERHOOD JOURNEY THROUGH PREGNANCY. IT WAS GREAT TO HAVE THAT SUPPORT SYSTEM THERE. THEY’RE NOT ONLY THERE FOR THE THINGS THAT YOU ASKED FOR, BUT THE THINGS THAT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE REALIZED THAT YOU NEEDED TO ASK FOR. MOM CARES ALSO HOSTS PROGRAMS FOR YOUNG MOMS AND FOR DADS. THEY TRAIN DOULAS TO SUPPORT MOMS DURING BIRTH TO ALL OF IT TO LOWER THE BLACK MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE, TO SAVE LIVES AND GIVE MORE MOMS THE GIFT OF SPENDING LITTLE MOMENTS WITH THEIR BIGGEST BLESSINGS. I WANT US TO GO OUT OF BUSINESS. I WANT US TO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT WHY BLACK WOMEN ARE AT SUCH A RISK FOR PREGNANCY AND PREGNANCY. UM, AND I WANT US TO REALLY JUST LOOK BACK AND BE ABLE TO SEE HOW THE GAP AND THE DISPARITIES ARE CLOSING AND HOW PEOPLE ARE JUST HAVING HEALTHIER PREGNANCIES AND HEALTHIER FAMILIES. AS MOM CARES WILL HOST EVENTS FOR BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH WEEK THROUGH APRIL 17TH. IF YOU MISSED THE EVENTS, YOU CAN STILL HELP OUT BY DONATING YOUR DONATION WILL GO TOWARDS ITEMS LIKE DIAPERS, FORMULA WIPES, MONTHLY CARE KITS, DOULA TRAININGS, AND MORE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ALL OF THE EVENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP, YOU CAN VISIT OUR WEBSITE
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MOMCares focuses on Black maternal health crisis in Baltimore
Black Maternal Health Week runs from April 11-17
Updated: 5:56 PM EDT Apr 11, 2024
Research shows Black women are experiencing pregnancy-related deaths at a higher rate than other groups. One Baltimore organization is working to change that by helping Black moms through pregnancy, the birthing process and beyond.Ana Rodney feels blessed to be able to look at her son, Aiden, every day. Her little boy is thriving today, but his entrance was traumatic. Aiden spent six months in the NICU and Rodney said she had three near-death experiences while trying to bring him into the world.”I thought that there was something wrong with me, and it actually wasn’t until my sister, who was pregnant at the same time as me, passed away in her postpartum, when I was just like, ‘Something is wrong,'” said Rodney, the founder and executive director of MOMCares.The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control said Black women are three times more likely to die pregnancy-related deaths than white women.”‘This cannot be normal. What is going on?’ That’s when I started to see the numbers and statistics about what was happening in the Black community in birth,” Rodney told 11 News.Reasons range from existing health conditions to lack of access to quality care, to racism and implicit bias.”Right now, a lot of Black women, when they find out they are pregnant, they don’t feel joy, they feel fear,” Rodney said. “They are met with all of these statistics and stories, and we really deserve to be joyful and celebrated and excited.”So, Rodney founded MOMCares in 2017 as a maternal health organization that provides free doula services, diapers, baby care essentials, transportation stipends, monthly care packages and more for Black mothers to help them through their pregnancy, birth and motherhood journey.”Through pregnancy, it was great to have that support system there,” mom Shari King said.”As a first-time mom, like anything new, you don’t know what you don’t know. So, they are there the whole time for any little small question, any little minor freak out,” said Cherí Felix said, who received a free doula and other services through MOMCares. “They are not only there for the things that you ask for, but the things that you might not have realized that you needed to ask for.”MOMCares also hosts programs for young moms and for dads. They train doulas to support moms during birth. All of it is an effort to lower the Black maternal mortality rate.”I want us to go out of business,” Rodney said. “I want us to not have to have a conversation about why Black women are at such a risk in pregnancy, and I want us to really just look back and be able to see how the gap and the disparity are closing and how people are just having healthier pregnancies and healthier families.”MOMCares will host events for Black Maternal Health Week, which runs from April 11-17. It’s a time to raise awareness and take action to improve the health of Black mothers. For more information on all of the events, tap here. If you can’t attend an event, you can still help by donating online, which will go toward items like diapers, formula, wipes, monthly care kits, doula trainings and more.
Research shows Black women are experiencing pregnancy-related deaths at a higher rate than other groups. One Baltimore organization is working to change that by helping Black moms through pregnancy, the birthing process and beyond.
Ana Rodney feels blessed to be able to look at her son, Aiden, every day. Her little boy is thriving today, but his entrance was traumatic. Aiden spent six months in the NICU and Rodney said she had three near-death experiences while trying to bring him into the world.
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“I thought that there was something wrong with me, and it actually wasn’t until my sister, who was pregnant at the same time as me, passed away in her postpartum, when I was just like, ‘Something is wrong,'” said Rodney, the founder and executive director of MOMCares.
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control said Black women are three times more likely to die pregnancy-related deaths than white women.
“‘This cannot be normal. What is going on?’ That’s when I started to see the numbers and statistics about what was happening in the Black community in birth,” Rodney told 11 News.
Reasons range from existing health conditions to lack of access to quality care, to racism and implicit bias.
“Right now, a lot of Black women, when they find out they are pregnant, they don’t feel joy, they feel fear,” Rodney said. “They are met with all of these statistics and stories, and we really deserve to be joyful and celebrated and excited.”
So, Rodney founded MOMCares in 2017 as a maternal health organization that provides free doula services, diapers, baby care essentials, transportation stipends, monthly care packages and more for Black mothers to help them through their pregnancy, birth and motherhood journey.
“Through pregnancy, it was great to have that support system there,” mom Shari King said.
“As a first-time mom, like anything new, you don’t know what you don’t know. So, they are there the whole time for any little small question, any little minor freak out,” said Cherí Felix said, who received a free doula and other services through MOMCares. “They are not only there for the things that you ask for, but the things that you might not have realized that you needed to ask for.”
MOMCares also hosts programs for young moms and for dads. They train doulas to support moms during birth. All of it is an effort to lower the Black maternal mortality rate.
“I want us to go out of business,” Rodney said. “I want us to not have to have a conversation about why Black women are at such a risk in pregnancy, and I want us to really just look back and be able to see how the gap and the disparity are closing and how people are just having healthier pregnancies and healthier families.”
MOMCares will host events for Black Maternal Health Week, which runs from April 11-17. It’s a time to raise awareness and take action to improve the health of Black mothers. For more information on all of the events, tap here. If you can’t attend an event, you can still help by donating online, which will go toward items like diapers, formula, wipes, monthly care kits, doula trainings and more.