BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH CONFERENCE & TRAINING INSTITUTETM
Founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA), the Black Maternal Health Conference and Training InstituteTM (BMHC24) is the premiere assembly for Black people, clinicians, professionals, advocates, and other stakeholders working to improve maternal health using the birth justice, reproductive justice, and human rights frameworks. This year’s conference will be hybrid (virtual and in-person) and will offer a national space for learning, rich discussions, and mobilization to transform Black Maternal Health, rights, and justice. We need a place to be in community together, to vision and dream, and to celebrate each other.
The BMHC24 theme, “Our Bodies STILL Belong to Us: Reproductive Justice NOW!” will highlight the widespread restrictions on abortion care access coupled with rising cases of criminalization due to pregnancy loss which continues to widen the gaps of adverse maternal and birth outcomes in the U.S. Many of the states with the most restrictive abortion bans have the worst maternal and child health outcomes and the least supportive social welfare and family support programs, particularly for Black women and birthing people. The time is NOW to demand for comprehensive public and private insurance coverage for maternal, sexual, and reproductive health care; improving access to care across geographies and birth settings; issuing guidance to health care providers, institutions, insurance companies, and related entities on providing equitable, high-quality, patient-centered care; and funding research and programs that center and utilize scholarship of Black women and birthing people.
The 2024 Black Maternal Health Conference & Training InstituteTM meets a national need for a forum dedicated to Black Maternal Health and Black people working to improve our outcomes. To date, discussions about Black Maternal Health have been carved into existing reproductive, maternal, and public health conferences where there is little space for meaningful dialogue and limited framing on health equity and reproductive justice. BMMA has created that space with BMHC24 and we center Black Mamas’ voices and experiences in all activities. This conference is open to ALL stakeholders with lived experience and are working to, and/or seeking to advance maternal and reproductive health equity.
BMHC24 will be segmented into four tracks:
- Holistic Care & Clinical Innovation
- Policy/Advocacy
- Research/Evaluation
- Culture Shift/Creative
The goals of BMHC are to:
- Build capacity of Black leaders in maternal health to shape programs, policy, and care, and to engage in evidence-based advocacy
- Disseminate best practices to address critical issues in Black maternal health from different sectors, including research, care, policy, and culture shift
- Grow a community and network of stakeholders committed to improving Black Maternal Health
- Cultivate a space of love, respect, and listening that centers the voices and experiences of Black Mamas, Black Birthworkers, Black scholars, and Black women leaders.
The conference and training institute will take place September 12-14th in Atlanta, GA.