INDIANAPOLIS — It’s Black Maternal Health Week, a campaign to bring awareness to the higher rates of death for Black Mothers in the U.S. including alarming numbers in Indiana. One local organization is working to get the numbers down through a collective of birth workers.
“I know that my experience would have been a whole lot different,” said first-time mother Tiera Howleit.
She told WRTV that working with a doula who could relate to her made all the difference in her pregnancy journey.
“It gets scary for sure when you have complications like high blood pressure and preeclampsia,” she explained. It just made me feel safer to know that I had more support from a woman or women who looked like me.”
It’s the mission behind the Indy Melanated Birthworker Collective.
The group of Black and Brown birthworkers was started two years ago and now includes around two dozen Doulas.
WATCH | On Saturday a local non-profit hosted an event called "Empower-Her: Advocating for Black Maternal Joy,” where women had a chance to connect with resources and experts.
“A Doula is a trained professional that focuses on the physical, mental, emotional and oftentimes spiritual approach labor support and postpartum,” said Courtney Hall, a co-founder of the collective who’s also a certified birth and postpartum Doula.
We don't do any medical care, but, we walk alongside that family,” she added.
The collective told WRTV Doulas go through around a year's worth of training to get certified.
The goal is to provide support and education to families, but also advocate for them throughout the entire process.
“We do have higher mortality rates,” said Co-founder Kristina Garcia, who’s also a childbirth educator. “I think part of it is just history. Historically black and brown women were seen as stronger.”
Indiana still ranks as one of the top states in the nation with the highest maternal mortality rate for all women.
In 2020 data from the Indiana Department of Health showed black women had a 93% higher maternal mortality rate than their white peers.
A rate the collective is working to decrease.
“Having a good birth from the start that's going to impact not just the mom's mental health, but the baby's future,” said Garcia.
Health insurance doesn’t always cover all doula services.
IMBC told WRTV that they're raising funds and seeking community partners to expand their services to more women at an affordable cost.
They are also calling on more Hoosier birth workers to join the collective or volunteer.
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