The African American Babies Coalition and Projects collaborated with the Minnesota State House Black Maternal Health Caucus to host a roundtable discussion at Wilder Center on April 12 convening leaders who are committed to addressing Black maternal mortality and morbidity disparities.
Attendees included Caucus members Rep. Ruth Richardson, Rep. Esther Agbaje, Rep. Rena Moran, Rep. Hodan Hassan, and Rep. Athena Hollins, and special guests Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan; Jennie Joseph, a midwife and founder of Commonsense Childbirth and Time Magazine Woman of the year; and Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley.
The roundtable discussion, “Expecting Better,” was organized in recognition of Black Maternal Health Week. Gov. Tim Walz proclaimed April 11-17 Black Maternal Health Week. The proclamation reads in part, “We affirm the need to improve the maternal care system and invest in improving black maternal health outcomes, as well as the need to acknowledge the historical and systematic exploitation of black bodies within the medical field, and to encourage practitioners to listen to and believe black women seeking medical care.”
Thank you to those who joined the conversation and to everyone in Minnesota and around the country working toward maternal health care equity.
The African American Babies Coalition and Projects, a program of Wilder, is a group of African American community stakeholders including educators, nonprofit and civic leaders, researchers, childcare providers, parents and grandparents and public health professionals, from across the Twin Cities. The group is committed to promoting the healthy development of African American babies.
