Black Maternal Health Campaign

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SISTA Fire is working to address the systemic racism and maternal health crisis that Black birthing families are facing within Rhode Island. The Black Maternal Health Campaign team is working hard on our agenda that demands Women and Infants Hospital change their policies and practices in order to improve the birth outcomes of Black families in Rhode Island. They have also worked to gain passage of the RI Doula Bill, expanding supports to families through active engagement in the Community Doula Taskforce. 

Our Black Maternal Health Campaign Committee meets biweekly on Tuesday evenings to strategize around accountability efforts. 

Every Parent Deserves a Just Birth Updates

It is a new year, SISTA Fire continues the fight for birth justice. With the force of our members and communities we continue to hold Women & Infants Hospital (WIH) accountable for improving Black and Women of Color maternal care in Rhode Island.

On November 4, 2021 SISTA Fire held Round Two: An Accountability Meeting with Women and Infants Hospital. This virtual community forum was attended by 83 participants and 10 senior leaders from Women & Infants Hospital (WIH) and Care New England, WIH’s parent health system. Key highlights of the forum include:

 

  • Three mothers provided testimony on recent experiences of inequitable and harmful treatment at WIH.
  • WIH and Care New England representatives reported on implemented changes in policy and practice.
  • SISTA Fire members presented our key demands for institutional change to take place within WIH.

On November 30th, a small delegation of members and staff met with WIH President and COO, Shannon Sullivan, and Chair of OBGYN, Dr. Method Tuuli. Reviewing our demands section by section, we were able to walk through the early parts of the demands and have started to see some agreement. This process continued in a meeting with Shannon Sullivan on February 18. We expect it will take at least two more meetings to complete this process.

 

Fighting for a vision of change, justice moves us forward in 2022 as our goal remains the same: We will continue until we secure clear commitments and a signed agreement from Women and Infants Hospital.