Helping Mothers and Babies Through Community and Women's Health

In this country we still deal with disturbing racial disparities in healthcare. For instance, the infant mortality rate for babies born to black women in Boston is four times higher than that of those born to white women. Much of the disparity stems from the lack of access to high quality health care services.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) is taking action to bridge this divide with our Birth Equity Initiative.

This effort seeks to reduce birth disparities in infant mortality and low birthweight, particularly among infants born to black women.

Working directly with the communities we serve, BWH strives to set these moms and children on a healthy course that will last their entire lifetimes by:

• Increasing contact with providers and enhancing the patient-provider relationship.
• Improving the birth outcomes of young women and their babies through prenatal care.
• Empowering young women through a process of education and prenatal knowledge.
• Creating a network of social support for women, especially among adolescents.
• Promoting the adoption of healthy behaviors during and after pregnancy.

If you would like to help us address birth disparities and improve the lives of countless women and infants, please consider supporting our community and women's health efforts.