CHC Commits to Address Black Birthing Inequities at Clinton Global Initiative 2023 Meeting

This new initiative builds upon CHC’s Black Birthing Initiative, a $7-million partnership funded by the Elevance Health Foundation to reduce preterm birth, by creating multi-sector CoLABS to enhance the readiness and infrastructure to support improved Black birthing outcomes in Indianapolis.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 20, 2023 – This week, CHC: Creating Healthier Communities (CHC) announced an expansion of its $7 million Black Birthing Initiative to reduce preterm birth rates and advance maternal health equity. CHC’s Commitment to Action celebrated at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2023 Meeting in New York will address maternal health infrastructure and collaboration in Indianapolis by creating new CoLABS, multi-sector collaboratives of community-based organizations.

“It’s an honor to announce this expansion of our maternal health equity work at CGI,” said Dr. Jean Accius, CHC president and CEO. “This is about saving lives. Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die from childbirth complications and twice as likely to experience preterm birth. That’s why this work is absolutely critical to ensure every person—every mother, every baby, every family—in every community can live their healthiest life.”

CHC’s Black Birthing Initiative, funded by Elevance Health Foundation, aims to improve preterm birth outcomes among Black women and birthing people by reducing the effects of stress and unmet social needs. The initiative launched in January 2022 in Cleveland, Atlanta, and Detroit and will provide scale with proven community-driven interventions and a standardized screening tool for adoption by health systems nationwide.

Following a year of listening sessions and key informant interviews with area partners, CHC identified the structural barriers and support needed to expand Indianapolis’ community readiness to improve Black birthing outcomes. CHC’s project will include a feasibility study, case for investment, multi-stakeholder convenings, technical support, and an awareness building and educational campaign. The goal is to bring partners and investors together to help establish a Black-led birthing center and enhanced doula workforce.

“The most influential way to affect changes in health outcomes for Black mothers is centralizing their voices and their needs when providing their care,” said Valerie Rochester, Chief Health Equity Officer at CHC. “To reduce preterm births, we must continue to address the structural and societal barriers and increase responsiveness to the needs of Black women and birthing people, offer tailored interventions, and tap into communities of birthing advocates with similar lived experiences. Our community partners are a critical part of this work, as they are trusted and doing the work every day.”

Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die from childbirth complications and twice as likely to experience preterm birth as other races and ethnicities. The unique combination of weathering, chronic stress, and life events, as well as racial bias in healthcare, are primary contributors to disparities in Black birthing outcomes.

Although studies have shown social interventions during pregnancy can improve birth outcomes, U.S. health spending invests less than three percent in the social drivers of health and these types of social interventions.

CHC is committed to implementing inclusive strategies that are equity-centered, community-informed, and community-led. CHC’s approaches are based on evidence and centered on equity to address the social drivers of health, incorporating community perspectives and the lived experiences, needs, and concerns of affected communities. Learn more about CHC’s health equity work.

About CHC: Creating Healthier Communities
CHC: Creating Healthier Communities exists so that every person in every community has an opportunity to live their healthiest life. We build partnerships to address health inequities by fostering trusted community engagement, fundraising, and offering programs and services to help support communities where everyone can thrive. We focus on awareness and access, education and advocacy, and philanthropy. Together with partners, we’ve been creating healthier communities for nearly 70 years. Join us at chcimpact.org or @chcimpact.

About the Clinton Global Initiative
Founded by President Bill Clinton in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative is a community of doers representing a broad cross section of society and dedicated to the idea that we can accomplish more together than we can apart. Through CGI’s unique model, more than 9,000 organizations have launched more than 3,900 Commitments to Action – new, specific, and measurable projects and programs.