The Black Mothers Care Plan of South Florida
The “Black Mothers Care Plan” at the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary community-research partnership that seeks to improve the quality of prenatal, obstetric, and postpartum care for Black women and birthing persons in South Florida and to foster equity in health care for Black mothers. The BMCP works to reduce the extreme mortality and morbidity rates among pregnant and postpartum Black women in Miami-Dade County. We affirm that Black women and birthing persons can lay claim to their birthing experience, postpartum period, new motherhood, and infants’ health through identifying, challenging and dismantling racism and its impacts, community-building, resource procurement, and connecting to providers committed to equitable care solutions. We follow the framework of Liberatory Design, centering equity, co-creation, and agency by shifting “the relationship between the people who hold power…and those impacted” (Anaissie, et al.), placing women’s knowledge and patient-guided care practices at the forefront and ensuring medical professionals hear and respond to Black women’s needs. We operationalize evidenced-based, community-led solutions by working collaboratively with community organizations, doulas and midwives, medical practitioners, and birth and maternal health advocates to implement sustainable, strategic interventions and programs all with the goal of improving the quality of care for Black women and birthing persons. For more information on the Black Mothers Care Plan and to join our mailing list, please email bmcp@fiu.edu.