About
A safe space reflective of the Black, Indigenous and People Of Color birthing community to support their perinatal and maternal health in our communities. Our services focus on addressing inequitable and unjust adverse outcomes through collective, intentional care, with racial and cultural representation and services.
The Urban Perinatal Education Center services would build capacity for multicultural and multilingual providers to adequately educate and support diverse clients towards having a physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy pregnancy and addressing any risks that materialize. The aim is to create an atmosphere where these providers can holistically plan out culturally and socio-economically congruent pregnancy goals, healthy activities, diets, and support structures that will allow the birthing parent to thrive. This wrap around care, especially for historically marginalized communities, aims to reduce the above disparities.
The core of Urban Perinatal Education Center’s mission is founded on addressing maternal care and outcome disparities. With the help of the community we will build this new initiative that aims to shift the dynamics of a healthcare system unable to meet the needs of a historically intentionally underserved and racially marginalized population. Urban Perinatal Education Center providers pride themselves on being trauma informed, culturally responsive, respectful, and wrap around care practitioners. They understand medical vernacular isn't necessarily understood by patients and will take the necessary time to explain procedures, illnesses, and associated next steps. A patient is to leave their care facility feeling empowered in their own health and healthcare. Urban Perinatal Education Center understands that this type of wrap around care will take time and energy out of their providers. Hence, Urban Perinatal Education Center managers will convene weekly all-staff check-ins and mentoring sessions in order to work through any issues and offer staff support, assistance, and guidance. Teamwork, communication, and collaboration is truly the only way that a comprehensive perinatal care clinic can thrive.
What we know: In a recent study it was found that Black infants cared for by Black doctors were more often to survive to their first birthday than Black infants cared for by white doctors. Additionally, the infant mortality rate is reduced for white infants when the attending physician was Black compared to when the attending physician was white. This provides data that is not only compelling but it supports the need for diversifying the health care workforce in cultural representation (including linguistically) and specifically supporting pathways for clinical training pipeline programs for future Black providers and other providers of color.
We know the JJway mode, which is the foundational blue print of the Urban Perinatal Education Center Easy Access Clinic, l has been successful, and is attributed to a culturally representative staff and the four key tenets. That work now moving forward with the National Perinatal Taskforce model to address materno-toxic stress and developing perinatal safe spots to address these issues. The Urban Perinatal Education Center will become a perinatal safe zone providing a network of care to directly address these inequities, injustice and disparities in care.
