UR Medicine and Rochester Regional collaborate on event to improve the Black birthing experience

The University of Rochester Medical Center and Rochester Regional Health are collaborating to address inequities in the birthing experience for marginalized groups.

Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The two health systems co-hosted a Black Maternal Health training event on Thursday for local birthing experts including doulas, midwives, obstetricians and gynecologists in hopes of addressing the underlying issues.

“We have an awful situation in the United States where the disparity is outrageous,” said British midwife Jennie Joseph, the event’s guest speaker.

Joseph was one of 12 women dubbed TIME magazine Woman of the Year 2022 for her work in women health advocacy.

“We get to equitable care by making sure that every person, every time gets the same resources, gets the same respect, gets listened to and has options,” she said. “Right now, that is not what’s happening, and this is why we see these outcomes.”

The training sessions included lectures on health inequities, how to eliminate bias, and how to handle complications during labor and delivery, which involved learning from reenacted birthing scenarios.

“Instead of making progress, we are actually regressing,” said Dr. Eva Pressman, chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Rochester. “We need to do things differently. And we think joining forces is critical in that success.”

Pressman said the causes of these disparities go back hundreds of years and are rooted in racism and redlining.

“It’s really all of the systems our society has created to differentiate people based on color,” she said.

Both health care institutions are working toward creating systems based on equity.

“It doesn’t require us to do fancy things, or necessarily spend lots of money to solve this problem,” said Dr. Elizabeth Bostock, executive medical director OBGYN and Women Health for Rochester Regional. “It requires us to be in conversation and work together.”

This training kicked off Black Maternal Health week which runs from April 11- 17.