Black Maternal Health Campaign
Every Parent Deserves a Just Birth.
Our Vision
We envision a Rhode Island where Black women, birthing people, and families of color experience safe, respectful, and culturally responsive care throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. We believe maternal health improves when communities have the power to shape the systems that affect their lives.
Our Approach
SISTA Fire was founded in 2017 by women of color to build community power and advance racial, gender, and economic justice. Through organizing, leadership development, healing justice, and participatory action research, we support women and nonbinary people of color in identifying root causes, developing solutions, and advancing systems change. We understand maternal health as more than healthcare. Housing, economic security, food access, transportation, caregiving support, and freedom from racism all shape maternal health outcomes. Improving outcomes requires changing the conditions that impact people’s lives.
Healthcare Accountability
Following the preventable death of LaShonda Hazard and her unborn child, SISTA Fire led a four-year community accountability campaign with Women & Infants Hospital. Community members documented experiences of medical racism and developed recommendations for change. This work contributed to improvements in doula policy, language access, hiring efforts for nurses of color, community engagement practices, and accountability structures between the hospital and community.
Supporting Birthworker Leadership
Through the Doulas of Color Network, we strengthen the leadership, professional development, and collective power of Black, Indigenous, and other birthworkers of color. We believe doulas and community birthworkers are essential partners in advancing birth justice and improving maternal health outcomes.
Building Community Power
Community leadership is at the center of our work. Through Participatory Action Research, community members document their experiences, identify solutions, and advance policy change. In 2024, SISTA Fire partnered with the Rhode Island Department of Health’s Maternal and Child Health Program to help address racial disparities in maternal health. Our research helped shape Rhode Island’s Maternal Health Strategic Plan by connecting maternal health to economic stability, housing, food security, transportation, and caregiving.
Our Commitment
We work at the intersection of community organizing, birthworker leadership, healthcare accountability, public health systems, and policy advocacy. By building community power and advancing community-led solutions, we are working toward a future where Black women, birthing people, and families of color can thrive.
