Funding Area: Health
Saving Mothers is a global nonprofit organization of allied healthcare professionals dedicated to eradicating preventable maternal deaths and birth related complications among marginalized women. We envision a world where every woman – regardless of her ethnicity or socioeconomic status – has access to quality reproductive healthcare services, and receives proper medical attention for issues of pregnancy and birth-related complications. We educate and train all levels of healthcare professionals to ensure that the women they serve receive the best care possible. We also design programs to empower women and ensure that their voices are heard by healthcare professionals.
Projects We Support
Expanding the Saving Mothers mPOWHER Program on maternal health literacy and empowerment in NYC
New York State has one of the highest maternal death rates in the nation and the racial disparities are stark. NYS ranks 30th in the nation, with a rate of 20.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018.
Racial disparities are heightened in New York City, where black women are 9x more likely than white women to suffer a pregnancy-related death. The NYS Department of Health’s latest report on maternal mortality clearly states that the vast majority (78%) of these deaths are fully preventable.
While hospital interventions can help to decrease maternal healthcare disparity, community-based intervention can often have an even greater impact on these rates. However, despite a significant increase in the number of community health workers in NYC, there is still no standardized training for this group. The Saving Mothers mPOWHER© Project can change this.
- he Project has two primary components:mPOWHER Training ProgramThe education and training of Community Health Workers (CHWs) and other frontline maternal health workers, with a focus on identifying at-risk patients, improving patient communication and education, and building patient trust and advocacy.
- mPOWHER Mom’s Kit ProgramA complementary program designed specifically for moms entering their 1st trimester, the Kit is actually a diaper bag filled with practical health-empowerment tools, along with valuable information, such as verbal strategies designed to help women challenge the structural racism and sexism they experience when interacting with the current healthcare system.
The two Programs work in tandem to advance both groups’ understanding of health risks and prevention, effective communication, and the power of advocacy. When we encourage positive interaction and lift up pregnant women together with their healthcare providers, the result is true empowerment and a self-sustaining resilience in families and across communities.
Support Dates: March, 2024 – Ongoing
Note: This information was taken from the Saving Mothers website.
