Indiana has historically had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the United States, and though efforts are being made to reverse that fact, the state still outpaces the national rate for mothers who die during birth and up to the first year after birth. The rates for Black women are three to four times higher than white women.
Over 60 percent of maternal deaths are preventable, and countless studies have shown the causes of the deaths. However, the dismal outcomes have not changed for Hoosier women.
That’s why Women4Change will hold a free virtual event, “Listen, Connect, Participate: Maternal Health and Infant Mortality,” at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 26. Register now at listen-connect-participate.eventbrite.com
The moderator will be Velvet G. Miller, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, whose career has included being a clinical nurse, an academician, and a health care administrator in the public and private sectors. She is currently the Project Director for Not One More: Promoting Maternal Health and Preventing Maternal Death.
Panelists will be:
- State Rep. Vanessa Summers
- Kristina Box, State Health Commissioner
- Virginia Caine, Director and Chief Medical Officer, Marion County Public Health Department
- Lucia Guerra-Reyes, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Applied Health Science, IU School of Public Health
Women4Change is hosting this event in partnership with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Birth Equity & Justice SJC, Indiana Minority Health Coalition, and The Not One More Project.
Women4Change is a non-partisan organization that educates, equips and mobilizes Hoosiers to make positive change for women. It hosts quarterly “Listen, Connect, Participate” events on a variety of topics.