Reproductive Health Advocates from the College of Nursing and Health Innovation aim to end disparities in Black women’s health

UTA Reproductive Health Advocates from the College of Nursing and Health Innovation started a three year program aiming to address reproductive health disparities in Black women in the Metroplex.

Public health seniors Rebecca Jackson and Tiara Pratt are student ambassadors leading the project. It aims to prevent high maternal morbidity rates in Black women ages 18 through 30 and are seeking to address the critical issues related to reproductive health and injustice in the community, Jaquetta Reeves, assistant professor in CONHI, said.

They’ve decided to conduct three different projects: a project based on the experiences of young Black girls, a speaker series project and an educational health-based project.

Three professors are overseeing the project: Reeves, Brandie Green, kinesiology clinical assistant professor and Kyrah Brown, kinesiology assistant professor. Reeves said their goal is to encourage the students throughout the project.

“Our goal is for our student ambassadors to be the voice and the face of each of our projects,” Reeves said. “The message we’re conveying is that our young people matter to us, and what matters to them also matters to us. We have a genuine concern for our youth, and we want to help them be a positive example to their peers, we want to build up their confidence to lead and stand up for their beliefs.”

The decision to start this project was made when Power to Decide, a non-profit organization working to improve reproductive health in communities, came to Reeves and told her their vision to put teams across the U.S. together to work on projects addressing injustices in the reproductive community.

Reeves thought of Brown, who is also the director of the Maternal and Child Health Equity Lab in the Department of Kinesiology, and asked her if she wanted to join the project.

Brown then connected with Green and brought Jackson and Pratt to the team. Power to Decide is also offering training and funding to the group.

Reeves said that they want to spread awareness and increase knowledge in the community and make known what’s available to young girls who are pregnant or have children.

She said people don’t know why the infant mortality rate is so high in young Black girls, and their job now is to increase high quality care for young girls and show the community why they should care about this problem.

“I would say one of the reasons why we have such a high infant mortality rate is because of lack of knowledge,” Reeves said. “Our young pregnant girls, our Black women who are pregnant, they don’t even know what they deserve and what they should be getting, so that’s why we need to let this be known.”

One of the main reasons why maternal and infant health disparities are such a problem is because of underlying issues of social, structural and economic inequalities rooted in racism and discrimination, she said. This includes medical treatment, having proper health insurance and knowledge of proper health care.

Jackson, public health senior and youth ambassador for UTA Reproductive Health Advocates, is working on the first project: PhotoVoice. The project will give women who are either pregnant or have children cameras to document their day-to-day life. The pictures will be presented in an art gallery to show the community the living conditions of these women.

“One of the biggest things I’m looking forward to is the PhotoVoice project because our goal is to give a speaker to these women and what they’re going through,” Jackson said. “I really like how a photo can show a thousand words.”

Pratt, public health senior and youth ambassador for UTA Reproductive Health Advocates, is working over the second project, Speaker Series, where different people who work in maternal and infant health at the top of their field will come to campus to discuss reproductive injustice.

Jackson said that the third project is Community Non-Conventional Health and Resources, where they will go out into the communities and find non-profit organizations to give their support by showing Black girls resources available in the community.

Power to Decide is going to be training with them for three years. By the end of that, the group will be self-sustainable and have the knowledge they need to keep their communities and projects going.

Pratt said the reason she wanted to be a part of this program is because of friends who have experienced maternal morbidity and discrimination when it comes to maternal health.

“I want to be the voice of change, and to help find resources for other young Black individuals to know that there is somebody out there advocating for them and to help bring awareness to this issue,” Pratt said.

She said the message she’s trying to portray to people is that no matter what their socio-economic income status is, they matter.

“You should be able to have the same health care, benefits and resources as other people who might be on a different level, but you still matter,” Pratt said.

This story was published by:

https://www.theshorthorn.com/news/reproductive-advocates-aim-to-end-disparities-in-black-womens-health/article_112b4774-dbeb-11ee-a6ce-2b7428fc79b2.html

Written By Newsreportter: Amanda Aldridge