Better health care for Black moms, babies takes commitment and compassion

Recently, West Side United and Lurie Children’s Hospital partnered to launch the West Side Healthy Parents and Babies program. The program provides expectant and new parents with free support from pregnancy to the first-year postpartum, connecting them to resources such as doula or lactation consultant services, and helping them navigate the health care system. To announce the program and to celebrate the many community partners doing this important work, we hosted a panel discussion on this topic in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood during Black Maternal Child Health Week, which took place April 11-18. Panelists, including a pediatric physician, a family medicine doctor, a doula and a mom and social justice advocate from the Westside NAACP, discussed the stark reality of maternal-child health for West Side families. The scary statistics, which include some of the highest incidence of low birth weight and preterm births, as well as the city’s highest maternal and infant mortality rates, are the byproduct of a complex web of social and systemic factors, such as years of disinvestment and inequitable access to quality, affordable health care. It is clear that partnership and the shared commitment of hospital systems, medical providers and community organizations are essential as we strive...