“Black Mamas Matter: In Policy and Practice” is Black Mamas Matter Alliance’s comprehensive, issues and values-based Policy Agenda.

As an Alliance of perinatal, maternal, and reproductive health Black and women-led organizations and multidisciplinary professionals, BMMA sees the development of a policy agenda as a unique opportunity to build consensus and articulate priorities that come from those doing work within our communities.

This policy agenda is organized into six overarching policy issues, including 1) Structural and Social Determinants of Black Maternal Health, 2) Full Spectrum Maternal, Sexual, and Reproductive Healthcare, 3) Black Maternal and Perinatal Workforce Development, 4) Criminalization of Black Women, Birthing People, and Families, 5) Research and Data Transformation, and 6) Black Women and Birthing People’s Leadership. These policy issues are both central to the work our partners do across the country and representative of the matters on which BMMA is frequently asked to engage and endorse legislation.

While these policy issues are siloed for the purposes of this document, they are not siloed in Black women and birthing people’s lives. BMMA recognizes that racism, sexism, and intersecting oppressive forces pervade and connect each of these policy issues.