DAWA Mama closed out Black Maternal Health Week with a community day focused on birthing with joy at the UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center in East Liberty on Thursday afternoon.
Black Maternal Health Week was held April 11 to April 17. The week was first recognized nationally in 2021 and was started by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, which raises awareness about Black maternal health disparities.
“This community day is important because it is Black Maternal Health Week. Part of Black maternal health is to make sure our moms are thriving, not just surviving,” said Tayler Clemm, founder of DAWA Mama.
Clemm said that many times, when people speak about Black maternal health, there will be a lot of statistics and talk of things that have gone wrong.
“I want to bring joy into that space,” Clemm said.
When she thinks of joy, she considers ancestral wellness: “How we took care of our moms and families since the beginning of time.” Clemm describes this as practicing breath work.
During the community day, an instructor guided a group through a session on learning how to take peaceful breaths. There were also sessions about moving through labor with ease and joy, decreasing fear, baby “wearing,” and breastfeeding lessons.
At the end of a session with Iyanna Bridges founder of The Birthing Hut, which is a doula collective and training center for doulas, Bridges guided the women in an affirmation.
“I birth in freedom, I birth in legacy, and I birth to my needs and desires,” Bridges said.
“There’s a lot of self-guided spaces that are allowing us to dive deep into after-birth care. … So teaching to encourage the mother, so that when the baby is born, the mother is born,” Clemm said. “Community is the most important thing about this day, making sure our village is strong. … We can do this as long as we do it together.”
According to a Pennsylvania Department of Health report, Allegheny County has one of the highest Black maternal mortality rates for death during and after childbirth in the state.
Victoria Ramalalsingh-Hinton, 34, of East Liberty, is a mother of three. She had two of her children in Pittsburgh.
“Creating this sense of community, and strengthening our birthing experience and, in totality, the experiences of Black women in Pittsburgh is important to me,” Ramalalsingh-Hinton said.
For Ramalalsingh-Hinton, Black maternal wellness means living in a world where Black women have the ability to thrive and “get all of the things that we deserve,” she said.
Danielle Howard from Reading is Fundamental Pittsburgh, was giving away books. She said knowledge is the foundation of wellness, and this event offered more knowledge to young moms.
“We are often overlooked in the Black community,” Howard said.
Diamon Hill-Dupree, 32, of Penn Hills, said that the community day meant everything to her because “we are the best people to take care of ourselves and support, learn, and educate one another.”
Brittany Elliott, owner of Back to You in 5 , is also a birth worker. During Black Maternal Health Week, she said it was important to bring attention to what happens to women during childbirth.
“I want people to take away the knowledge that there are a lot of resources in Pittsburgh,” Elliott said. “If you need help in the space of giving birth, just ask … because there are a lot of opportunities for support.”
Elliott described Black maternal wellness as safety, joy, love and community. As a self-care and mom coach, Elliott helps working mothers prioritize their needs and practice self-care in a meaningful way, so that they are able to reclaim joy in their motherhood experiences.
She authored a book, “What Self-Care Looks Like,” and leads a podcast with the same title.
“The statistics for Black women and birthing outcomes are alarming, and it takes community for change to really take place,” said Ashli Hull of Penn Hills.
Hull was inspired by the women throughout the community, from the women who have experienced motherhood to those just entering their journeys. There’s not enough community, according to Hull, when it comes to womanhood.
“Black maternal wellness means restoring confidence in ourselves and in our bodies,” Hull said. “With our confidence, we are able to grow in every area, which will result in a higher sense of wellness.”