Women’s Fund to Host Virtual Panel Discussion on Racial Disparities in Maternal Health

SPRINGFIELD — The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts will host a virtual panel event on racial disparities in maternal health on Thursdsay, April 15 at 11 a.m. during Black Maternal Health Week.

The featured panelists include Dayna Campbell, assistant professor at American International College in the School of Health Sciences, adjunct instructor at Holyoke Community College, and president of the board of directors and co-executive director of the Women of Color Health Equity Collective; Tonja Santos, nurse midwife, assistant director of the Division of Midwifery at Baystate Health, and faculty at the Baystate Midwifery Education Program; and Marisa Pizii, deputy director of programs for Civil Liberties and Public Policy.

This discussion will include strategies for pregnant women on advocating for care, awareness of the connection between lack of appropriate and timely care with maternal morbidity and infant loss, education on how to establish a team of caregivers, and ways to address provider bias and racial microaggressions produced by structural racism in medical care. For access to this virtual event, visit bit.ly/april-maternalhealth.