The persistence of high maternal and infant mortality rates among Black women is now being addressed in a very different way in New Jersey, says Ronsha Dickerson, the doula leader for the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative’s Healthy Women, Healthy Families program. The program trains Black women to act as resources for other pregnant Black women before, during, and after birth. They are not medical professionals, but they help women get what they need in terms of information, services, and attention. Their services are free.
One mother, Shanita White, says the services work around the needs of the mother. At one point last month, she says, she realized that her baby wasn’t moving, so she called her doula, who advised her to lie on her right side and drink water.
“As soon as I did that, he started moving again,” White said. “And then she texted me the next morning to make sure everything was OK. The doctors don’t do that, so I like being able to have a follow-up afterward.”
[For more on this story by RUTH MCCAMBRIDGE, go to https://nonprofitquarterly.org...of-maternal-stress/?]
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