Our Commitment
We are holding ourselves accountable to ensure we create and support an inclusive environment for our team, our partners, our participants, and our patients.
Who We Are
We are a diverse group of perinatal clinicians and researchers focused on viable change in the many dimensions of disparity that exist among vulnerable birthing individuals and families, locally and nationally.
We have spent the past decade leading NIH-funded cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction studies among Black and Latina childbearing women in both clinical and community-based settings. However, our own observations, feedback from our research participants and thought leadership in the field of maternal health equity, led to the acknowledgement that much more is needed beyond individual-level only interventions in order to truly move the needle on reducing perinatal CVD risk factors. We recognize that authentic systems-level change to improve maternal health equity is most effective when it centers partnerships with communities, honors community knowledge, addresses root causes of disparities and equalizes power between academics and community members. This awareness requires that our research team intentionally focus on avoiding harm and shifting power dynamics.
We are dedicated to building meaningful relationships with women and birthing people of color, built on transparency, empathy, honesty and trust. We are committed to implementing and evaluating community-driven solutions that promote and support quality and accountability, workforce development, and program adoption and dissemination.
Our Vision is to create a society that prioritizes the health and wellbeing of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous birthing families.
Our Mission is to conduct ethical, antiracist, and community-engaged research to advance and nurture the health, wellbeing and agency of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous birthing families in Philadelphia and beyond. Through collaborative program action and the leveraging of resources in service of community needs, our multidisciplinary team of clinicians, birth workers, and researchers cultivate impactful and sustainable solutions that support health equity at the individual, family, health system and societal levels.
Our Values
Share Power and Leadership
We recognize that authentic systems-level change to improve maternal health equity is most effective when it equalizes power and access to resources between academics and community members.
Build Healthy Families and Communities
We know that individual health, especially that of mothers and birthing people, is connected to the health and wellbeing of one’s family and community. We recognize that sustained and meaningful work towards health equity for birthing people must be done through culturally relevant approaches that uplift healthy families and communities.
Listen and Take Action
It is time to listen to women and birthing people of color and acknowledge that meaningful, culturally relevant, evidence-based solutions for optimal perinatal health reside in the lived experience of the people and communities facing inequities.
Support Without Judgement
We strive to offer empathy and non-judgmental support as well as recognize and address the root causes of the challenges facing the families we work with in our programs and interventions.
Advance Research Justice
We seek to disrupt the narrative that the only legitimate knowledge is that which is produced by mainstream institutions through scientific means, but rather center our research to reflect the community’s truths and realities.