Hello Birth Justice Warriors and Advocates!

June 28, 2019

“3 out of 5 postpartum deaths are preventable”- CDC

According to the most recent Vital Signs report on maternal health published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in May 2019, three out of five pregnancy-related deaths in the United States are preventable. The report highlighted that there is an even split between when these deaths occur, with a third of pregnancy-related deaths occurring before, one third during, and one third up to a year after pregnancy. The report also identified the disproportionate effect these deaths have on Black and Native American women.

Apart from explaining the problem however, the report offered some strategies that hospitals, states and women can use to help mitigate the issue. Improving access to quality prenatal and postpartum care, supporting reviews of all pregnancy-related deaths and knowing and communicating any pregnancy symptoms and complications are some strategies the report advised could help reduce the numbers of women dying before, during and after pregnancy.
These suggestions are in line with the mission of the Birth Justice Warriors because not only do we educate women to make them better advocates for themselves, we continuously educate our local and state representatives as well as medical professionals on the importance of maternal mortality prevention in Nassau County. To read the complete report, click here.

Birth Justice Warriors in the Community:
The Birth Justice Warriors and our partners have had a busy few months in the community. Below is a sampling of some of the events we have participated in.

• Long Island’s Women’s Diversity Network Summit May 4, 2019– Founders Martine Hackett and Nellie Taylor-Wallthrust gave a well attended and well received presentation of the mission and work of the Birth Justice Warriors at the Long Island Women’s Diversity Second Annual Summit. Thank you to Shanequa Levin, CEO and Founder, and everyone who organized and attended this event. We look forward to partnering with WDN and their advocacy around improving women’s health on Long Island. Stay tuned for more details to come.
• March of Dimes Webinar- The Birth Justice Warriors were represented by Dr. Hackett at a March of Dimes webinar chronicling birth equity activities around New York State. Thank you Susan Rose, Director Maternal & Child Health of our partner March of Dimes of Greater New York for the opportunity.
• Birth Equity in the ‘burbs: Problems and Progress- Nassau County, NY on Long Island is considered one of the healthiest and wealthiest in the country. But for black infants and mothers there is a different story. This webinar, presented by Martine Hackett, Associate Professor of Public Health at Hofstra University, does a deep dive into the data and the reasons behind the reasons for this unjust inequity. If you are interested in viewing, click here 
Our Media Moment: We were thrilled that Aleeza Kazmi focused her senior thesis project at Stony Brook University’s journalism program on Birth Justice Warriors! Please check out her great work, including original data analysis and profiles: https://aleezakazmi.wixsite.com/libirthwarriors
Health Fairs
We have been setting up our table and telling everyone who will listen about our mission to improve black maternal and infant outcomes in Nassau County!

LOOKING AHEAD…
•   There will be a new Birth Justice Warriors training on July 18 and 19 at Hofstra University. We have 20 dynamic participants who are ready to learn and share about birth equity on Long Island.
• Conversation Cafes have begun! If you have been trained as a Birth Justice Warrior and you are interested in hosting a Conversation Cafe, contact Te-Ana to schedule an additional training on how to use the materials.
•  Grand rounds are being scheduled with Birth Justice Warriors at South Nassau Community and NYU Winthrop hospitals. More updates to come.
• The Birth Justice Warriors listening station is now live! If you would like to have your story recorded or know someone who would, contact us at birthjusticewarriors@gmail.com

Spread the word!

Our fabulous logo is an award winner created by Jim Wagner of Certainly Studio in NYC 

The Birth Equity Nassau Newsletter is written by Tari Ajeh, MPH and edited by Martine Hackett, PhD, MPH.