On this Maternal Monday, as Black Maternal Health Week is observed from April 11 to 17, Black Mamas Matter, I welcome the global health community’s focus on the persistent and unacceptable disparities in maternal health outcomes affecting Black women, and the renewed emphasis on advancing solutions from awareness into policy and practice.

In the United States, Black women remain around three times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than white women, while in the United Kingdom, recent maternity data likewise show that Black women continue to die at more than twice the rate of white women, patterns that point to persistent failures in access, standards of care, and women’s experience within health systems, and are also reflected in Nigeria where a woman faces roughly a 1 in 19 lifetime risk of maternal death, one of the highest worldwide.

Through the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, our MamaCare 360 programme and mission continues to advance midwifery and nursing led models, champion respectful maternity care, and integrate maternal mental health into routine services, including through the development of the Perinatal Mental Health Checklist, validated within Nigeria’s National Maternal and Child Health Handbook.

My engagements in global discussions, including the Milken Institute Global Conference, Baby Blues: The Early Days of the Motherhood Journey Roundtable with midwives and doulas, and the Clinton Global Initiative, The Fourth Trimester: How to Provide Postpartum Support and Reduce Post-Birth Mortality, have furthered discussions on postpartum care, elevating a clear and continued need to share lessons learned and evidence across settings to inform more responsive and integrated maternal health approaches.

We look forward to utilising the Black Maternal Health Week Resolution Guide to continue to connect advocacy to national and regional policy efforts, as it provides an important framework for aligning frontline leadership and implementation towards more accountable Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) systems.

 

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