Black Maternal Health Week events wrap up, but work continues

TAMPA, Fla. — Black Maternal Health Week wraps up April 17, but the work is far from over, especially for birthing experts and advocates in our area. What You Need To Know As Black Maternal Health Week comes to a close, birthing experts and advocates are continuing to raise awareness about the disparity for Black mothers Marshara Fross, a Postdoctoral Scholar and Research Fellow for the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health at USF, is using her personal experiences to educate others REACHUP Clinical Director Dr. Deanna Wathington says community involvement for Black maternal health is so crucial because it impacts every community RELATED: USF Health’s Black Maternal Health Week debuts with events to raise awareness The University of South Florida’s College of Public Health lead the charge with the amount of events and educational opportunities they provided to the Bay area, and we learned just how close to home this hits for so many involved. In 2020, Non-Hispanic Black mothers in the state of Florida were nearly four times more likely to pass away due to pregnancy-related causes. This disparity is larger than what is seen nationally.  If the alarming statistics showing Black infants dying at the...