Black Maternal Health Week at SJSU

Posted by Carolyn Martin on May 6th, 2024 Posted in: Equity Diversity Inclusion, Health Disparities, Health Equity, News from Network Members, News from NNLM Region 5
Tags: Black Maternal Health, health disparities, health equity, health information, libraries, library programming, National Health Observances

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We’re excited to share this wonderful guest post contributed by Dawn Hackman, Adriana Poo, and Estella Inda, librarians at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, San José State University. Their library participated in our Region 5 program where we offered organizational members the opportunity to host the film “Laboring with Hope” to raise awareness about maternal health inequities and provide health information resources. 

Since 2023, the NNLM Region 5 has offered its members libraries the opportunity to host a free screening of the documentary, Laboring with Hope, in an effort to raise awareness of maternal health disparities in Black mothers and birthing people. Laboring with Hope is a heart-wrenching documentary, weaving personal stories and expert perspectives to illustrate maternal morbidity and mortality among Black women. The film is a call to action to identify and implement systemic changes to improve the pregnancy and birthing experiences for Black birthing people, thereby improving maternal health and birth outcomes. San José State University Library featured this film in its programming for Black Maternal Health Week in 2023 and 2024.

Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW) was founded 7 years ago by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Inc. It takes place every year from April 11-17, to coincide with National Minority Health Month and the International Day for Maternal Health and Rights. To quote the BMMA: “[BMHW] is a week of awareness, activism, and community-building aimed at amplifying the voices of Black Mamas, bringing visibility to Black-led maternal health initiatives, and centering the values and traditions of the reproductive and birth justice movements.”

This year, BMHW coincided with SJSU’s observance of National Public Health Week (NPHW), the latter having been delayed a week to avoid Spring Break. Leveraging this alignment, our programming began with “NPHW: Be the Change You Want to See,” a drop-in session where students were invited to engage in activities such as letter writing, health policy treasure hunt, discussed strategies to advocate for policy changes, and more. We hosted our second screening of Laboring with Hope on April 15, 2024. The screening was followed by a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Santa Clara County Perinatal Equity Initiative, who spoke about the work happening in our county to address racial inequities in birth and birthing person outcomes. Rounding out our BMHW activities, the San José Public Library, in collaboration with SJSU, brought in a speaker to lead a discussion about parenting and how you can cultivate your child’s unique qualities while maintaining a parent’s authority.

For more details:
BMHW@SJSU event page
SJSU NewsCenter: “A Look at Black Maternal Health Week”