‘I really wanted to shine a light on the issues’: USC student spearheads city of Columbia’s first black maternal health week

The week is aimed at raising awareness and educating black women and mothers about available resources to advocate for themselves during pregnancy. COLUMBIA, S.C. — The City of Columbia kicked off its first Black Maternal Health Week, an idea that was kickstarted by a University of South Carolina student.  The goal is to raise awareness about black maternal health in our state while educating women and mothers on the available resources to help advocate and educate themselves during childbirth. Ebony Christie came up with the idea for the health week.  “I really wanted to shine a light on the issues that are not always talked about,” she said.  Christie is a junior public health major currently attending USC.  “One of the biggest things was the black maternal mortality rate across South Carolina,” she said.   To get the project rolling,  she reached out to Columbia City Councilwoman Aditi Bussells. “Black women are three or four times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications compared to white women,” Bussells explained.  Dr. Kiri-Claudia Allen Harrington echoed these disparities, which she said happen due to multiple factors including healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias. “If we do the advocacy work,...