Title
Vote on a request to accept $185,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield Infant and Maternal Health Equity Grant Funds.
Abstract
Action Requested: Vote on a request to accept $185,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield Infant and Maternal Health Equity Grant Funds.
Introduction & Background: EMBRACe seeks to ensure successful and equitable birth outcomes for women and children in Chatham County, NC through system and service alignment across various partners to ensure that all women who receive prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum services from project partners are treated with dignity and respect.
Firmly grounded in the principles of Reproductive Justice and framed by a whole person, life-course perspective on racial disparities in birth outcomes, Equity for Moms and Babies Across Chatham (EMBRACe) recognizes that reducing inequities in outcomes for moms and babies requires more than improving prenatal care.
Following the literature, EMBRACe centers on the knowledge that the root of birth disparities is racism, interpersonal and structural, experienced across the life span. The pathways by which racism contributes to the poor health of women and babies are complex and pervasive including unequal access to resources and social capital, increased weathering of stress and greater allostatic load, and poorer quality and access to care. As such, reducing disparities in birth outcomes requires us to intervene in ways that disrupt these pathways while striving to dismantle racism within our institutions and communities.
Discussion & Analysis: The proposed project aims to do this through the creation of a person-centered system of care oriented around women of color-their lived experiences, their full personhood, and their well-being. Placing the full personhood of women of color at the center means orienting comprehensive services that attend to the pathways by which racism contribute to poor outcomes around the women’s needs, values, and desires and engaging women of color as decision-makers and agents of change in our quest to confront and dismantle systemic racism.
How does this relate to the Comprehensive Plan: Goal 10: Foster a healthy community-Assure access to health care for all county residents
Budgetary Impact: No Local Funding Requested
Recommendation: Vote on a request to accept $185,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield Infant and Maternal Health Equity Grant Funds.