According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women. And infants born to Black and Native people die at a markedly higher rate than those born to caucasian women.
There are a number of factors contributing to this disparity, including lack of access to healthcare, societal and health system structural racism and implicit bias.
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Bastyr University will host a FREE screening of the new documentary film Birthing Justice on Thursday March 9 at 6 p.m. A panel discussion will take place after the screening. RSVP is required.
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“Social determinants prevent many people from racial and ethnic minority groups from having fair opportunities for economic, physical, and emotional health,” the CDC reports.
Righting those wrongs is what “Birthing Justice,” the new documentary film by Allyson Felix, Jacoba Atlas and Denise Pines, is all about.
The film is anchored in the expertise and lived experiences of Black women and their advocates and follows several women through pregnancy, delivery and the postpartum period as medical and social justice experts expose the challenges they face.
A movement underway
It explores the country’s inequity epidemic by examining birth in four regions — Washington, D.C., Augusta, GA, several areas in Missouri, and California —and interviewing those affected by current policies that fuel inequity. At the same time, Birthing Justice highlights the movement to fix broken systems by spotlighting health initiatives and best practices that have been proven to improve outcomes for Black women and babies. Throughout the film, advocates and leaders in the birthing justice movement share what is being done to address this national crisis, offer solutions and advocate for change.
A panel discussion with local experts and advocates for birth equity will follow the screening. Participants will discuss what is being done locally as well as nationally to improve birth outcomes for all people, especially Black women, and what regular people can do to push for change.
Local experts lead post-screening discussion
Many people working to put an end to birth inequity. Several will be on hand to discuss the movement following he film, including:
- Faisa Farole-Founder/Director, Global Perinatal Services
- Binta Niang, Licensed Midwife at Rainier Valley Birth and Health Center
- Jazmin Williams, Founder/Co-Lead, BLKBRY Black Centered Holistic Care
- Dr. Ben Danielson, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, UW
- Dr. Leizl F. Sapico, Medical Director, Postpartum Wellness and Recovery Program, OB/GYN-Virginia Mason Franciscan-Health
The free film screening will take place at Bastyr’s Kenmore Campus-Auditorium
doors open at 5:30 p.m. RSVP requested.
