Elephant Circle is part of Safer Childbirth Cities
/Published by Black Women’s Blueprint on January 27, 2021 via newsletter:
In lock step with community, we are committed to the sovereignty, dignity, and safety of childbirth in Brooklyn.
Collectively, this moment not only calls each of us to radically reimagine our approaches, but to creatively strategize, to be wise, to move with our grandmother’s hands, to respond with intuition and care, and offer deep listening and observation – to advocate for all stakeholders to provide the respectful, culturally safe, and compassionate care that all laboring people need and deserve.
We are excited to announce receiving generous support through the Safer Childbirth Cities Initiative at Merck for Mothers. Over the next three years, with the collective knowledge and intelligence inherent to all communities, we plan to turn the tide on maternal mortality, morbidity, unsafe and disrespectful childbirth in Brooklyn through a “Designing for Equity” process led by community and facilitated by a multidisciplinary coalition between Black Women’s Blueprint, Ancient Song Doula Services, Elephant Circle, Cityblock Health, Primary Maternity Care, and New York University. This process will propose and pilot a new model of primary maternity service delivery specifically designed to advance equity and improve outcomes in Brooklyn, New York centering community.
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are most acutely impacted by maternal mortality and morbidity crisis - as they carry the unjust burden of racism, injustice and oppression. We believe that New York City needs to transform how we address these disparities - with an approach that is community-led, rooted in building an integrated and sustainable anti-violence, trauma-informed approach to maternity care. For the next three years to 300 years, for the next generation and beyond, we intend to both dream and give birth to a model that serves and uplifts all families, especially those least served by the dominant model.
Through coalition-building, this strategic design process prioritizes safety in pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period; uplifting the rights of women and girls; ensuring bodily autonomy, and securing access to high-quality primary maternity care in communities most impacted by the overlapping maternal health crisis and COVID pandemic. In our continued and collaborative work, the organization, delivery and overall experience will center community values and voices, with Brooklyn families leading the way to reenvision what comprehensive, community generative care looks like for them.
We ground our work in principles of transparency, community, consensus and accountability. As our work begins and continues to evolve- we invite interested community members, providers, leaders, policy makers, parents, students, creators and imagineers to follow along, engage, and join us in building the world we want to give birth in. Connect with this initiative at info@blueprintny.org.
Safer Childbirth Cities was launched in 2018 by Merck for Mothers, Merck’s global initiative to help create a world where no woman has to die while giving life. The multi-year effort aims to foster community-led solutions that will help cities become safer, more equitable places to give birth. The second cohort is building on an inaugural cohort of ten community-based organizations working in coalition with unique collaborators to improve maternal health in their cities based on locally-identified needs and advance evidence-informed interventions to increase maternal health equity.
