Partners®, celebrates 15 years of addressing racial and
ethnic disparities in African-American health, it may be
surprising to hear that not much has changed.
After all, we remain steadfast in our mission to help lower
the risk of Black infant mortality, and to nurture Black
women through high-risk pregnancies. This commitment
will remain at our core as long as we exist.
Still, the Black infant mortality crisis persists. Within
the Black community, infant mortality outweighs that of
any other racial population in America by far. This,
unfortunately, has not changed either.
Here is what’s different: We’ve evolved along with our
key constituents, and with that, we have shifted our
approach a bit. For more than a decade, we used clinical
data of the pubic health model to shape our discussion.
To provide a framework and be the beacon for the way
we operated. Now we understand, with perhaps greater
clarity than ever before, our Sister-Friend Network is
what anchors us.
Sisters Serving Sisters
We have built our Sister-Friend Network from 10 charter
Sister-Friends in 1994 to more than 400 by 2009. These
amazing volunteers dedicate countless hours to give hope to
at-risk pregnant women who are scared, sometimes alone, and
often in need of someone to simply listen. They forge powerful
relationships that endure generations and build community.
PBP: Building A Railroad
How did we grow such a vibrant, dedicated network in 15
years? We are the 34th volunteer chapter of Birthing Project
USA, also known as the “Underground Railroad for New Life.”
And we literally and metaphorically built a “railroad” serving
three communities. In order to move forward, we harkened
back to 1849 when Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery to
freedom. She became one of the most famous "conductors" on
the Underground Railroad because she returned south at least
19 times over a period of 10 years, freeing over 300
slaves including most of her brothers and sisters, as
well as her parents. The Underground Railroad was comprised
of a support network of antislavery activists who helped
enslaved men, women and children escape from the south to
reach safety in the north. We’ve mirrored that model
because all of our roads point back to sister-to-sister
relationships. And that growing support system needed a more
centralized hub. Our railroad also consists of key community
partners that we turn to for organizational support, including
Huntington Hospital and USC, among many others.
Moving on to West Adams
In 2006, we moved out of Pasadena into Historic West Adams
so we could serve two communities in Los Angeles County.
This became our “Union Station.” We understood that
culturally, Black women travel. They may worship in
Inglewood, but live in Pasadena. They may work downtown
but volunteer in Chatsworth. They needed to be able to live
their lives in all their logistical complexity but come to us for
an intimate safe haven to discuss issues that concerned them.
We needed to support them as they underwent monumental
life-changing transitions. We needed to be their “North Star.”
An Evolving Community
In the last decade Black women have undergone significant
changes that doubtfully Harriet Tubman--or even our
grandmothers--would be able to fathom. Access to education
has ushered Black women into a new career era. And along
with that comes a new kind of stress. These women perhaps
must learn to balance a far greater load, and have far greater
expectations on them from their families than their ancestors.
As these realities become internalized, these working mothers
become at greater risk for preterm labor. The Black college
student and the Black university graduate have their own
birthing stories to tell. And now we‘re here to listen. Through
our work with UC-Santa Barbara, we are developing more
programs to reach this emerging constituent.
Our leadership academy, our core curriculum—all of that
changes because we respond to the needs of our multi-generational
Sister-Friend Network. If the Pasadena Birthing Project
is to continue to evolve, it must embrace the changing
realities of the Black community and be responsive to those
important generational conversations. We are proud to have
served the Black community for a decade and a half and bring
hope to another generation of pregnant women, which they
can then pass down to their daughters. We honor the
grandmothers, mothers and daughters who are all part of our
Sister-Friend Network. Those powerful relationships have
traveled with us for 15 years as our railway has expanded. They
are our champions and remain at the nexus of our pursuit, now
and for the next 15 years.
Wenonah Valentine, MBA, Executive Director,
Pasadena Birthing Project
