National Group Advocates For Safer Pregnancies, Births For Black Women

A national group is working to reduce the high number of deaths of Black women during childbirth.

The National Black Nurses Association started this group to address the maternal mortality crisis that Black women face.

The mission of the Black Maternal Health Task Force is to improve conditions for pregnant women so they can have safer births.

The agency supports nurses on a local level through community health education and fairs, and it advocates for policy changes.

One of those includes the Momnibus Act, which would provide more funding and resources to reduce Black women’s mortality rates.

NBNA’s Dr. Kamila Barnes said statistics show big health disparities for women of color.

"This is our history and I’m looking at pre-civil rights movement when segregation was legal. We had nurses from the communities working within the communities and there were better health outcome then than there are now. So we have to go back to our historical roots if we want to address the maternal health crisis," Dr. Lucinda Canty said.

NBNA is planning to hold a Black maternal health conference to gain additional support for its efforts.

It also encourages people to support their local chapters. In Tulsa, it’s the Eastern Oklahoma Black Nurses Association.