Black Maternal Health Symposium Equips Valley Birthing Professionals And Providers With Advocacy Tools

By Vivienne Aguilar | Special to The OBSERVER Behind the grim statistics of Black women who have died from pregnancy-related issues are the faces of women like “Selena.” Sharee Wilburn, a community health program manager at Amelia Ann Adams Whole Life Center, shared Selena’s story during the recent second annual San Joaquin County Black Maternal Health Symposium. Wilburn told the symposium audience Selena was one of her clients who died just two months ago from birthing complications in Stockton. The death hit home for Wilburn, who said unlike her, Selena didn’t have the benefit of a support system, husband or house.& “But what we share in common is that she was, and I am, Black in America. That’s why we’re here today,” Wilburn said.& That’s not to say Wilburn does not understand loss, being an “Angel Mom” of a stillborn child she lost to a late-stage case of sudden infant death. That experience ultimately drove her to work with community members like Selena. Roughly 80 people were on hand to hear the stories of Wilburn and others at the symposium, held April 11 at Health Plan of San Joaquin’s office in French Camp. The event’s theme was “Our Bodies STILL...