Maternal and Child Health Federal Consolidated Programs

Pregnant and postpartum women who are Black live at the intersection of 2 of the gravest public health threats confronting the 21st century US: (1) the maternal morbidity and mortality epidemic; and (2) intersectional discrimination. In a nation with the highest maternal mortality of all high income countries Black women are three times more likely to die while pregnant or postpartum than their White counterparts. Black women in particular have suffered: historically and presently approaches to address Black maternal morbidity and mortality health have systematically failed to engage communities with lived experience. Additionally paternal health outcomes and father involvement in the maternal and child health domain has not yet been sufficiently addressed. Addressing the family's health needs during pregnancy and early parenthood can mitigate racial disparities and improve health outcomes for Black families by connecting both parents with prenatal education and preventive and treatment services. Guided by principles of Reproductive Justice Research Justice and the NIMHHD Mental Health framework the Morehouse School of Medicine's proposed Center for Maternal Health Equity Justice and Liberation will generate actionable evidence about the multilayered determinants of maternal health conditions in close and equitable partnerships with Black women and their families and the community-based organizations that serve them with the goal of ending the maternal health crisis in Georgia and beyond. Georgia is an essential site for this work as it has among the highest pregnancy related mortality ratios in the US and Black women experience a rate that is 2.3 times that of White women the state MMRC has found that social and structural determinants of health are a leading - and growing - cause of maternal death. Toward its mission the Center for Maternal Health Equity Justice and Liberation will mobilize academic and community partners to support Black maternal health by developing and sustaining a robust transdisciplinary community-drive research infrastructure; conducting rigorous ethical transdisciplinary research in partnership with communities; building the capacity of the next generation of investigators; and collaborating with academic governmental and community to disseminate and translate discoveries. Novel aspects of the Center for Maternal Health Equity Justice and Liberation include its leadership of Morehouse School of Medicine an HBCU medical school; the primacy of 'community' throughout the center; and its unique planned interactions amongst its Research Projects and Community Partners to maximize learning for all including ESIs and community partners