Thanks to sponsorship from Hilti North America, CHC hosted a special lunchtime screening of the documentary Aftershock and panel discussion to raise awareness of the maternal health crisis facing Black communities. The event took place on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, at the Anacostia Arts Center in Washington, DC.

Aftershock, a Hulu Original Documentary  from Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News Studios, shines a much-needed light on the high rates of preventable maternal mortality among Black women in the U.S.  This documentary follows the journeys of two families after the deaths of their loved ones due to childbirth complications and shares how they galvanized a movement to address this devastating crisis.

Several of the speakers included on Wednesday’s panel were also featured in the film, including Shawnee Benton Gibson, Bruce McIntyre, the Founder of the Save A Rose Foundation, Dr. Neel Shah, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Chief Medical Officer at Maven Clinic, and Myla Flores, a co-founder of Uptown Village Cooperative and childbirth educator.. The panel was moderated by Briana Stewart of ABC News, with additional experts who are working to improve Black maternal health, Inas Mahdi, the National Director of Training, Practice, and Evaluation for the National Birth Equity Collaborative.

The National Association to Advance Black Birth (NAABB) also discussed the Black Birthing Bill of Rights, a resource for every Black person that engages in maternity care.