CITY OF FRESNO
Office of Councilmember Nelson Esparza & Council President Annalisa Perea
Is hereby presented to:
Black Maternal Health Week
WHEREAS: Black Maternal Health Week is nationally recognized each year during the month of April. The purpose is to help bring awareness and to engage in proactive conversations in improving Black maternal health. We dedicate this week towards amplifying community -driven policy, research, and care solutions; and
WHEREAS: The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among comparable countries in the developed world. Each year in the United States, thousands of women experience pregnancy complications. Maternal mortality has skyrocketed in the past few years, with an estimated 17.4 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in the United States. Approximately 700 women die each year in our country due to pregnancy-related complications. Pregnancy-related mortality can be avoided in many cases by identifying urgent maternal warning signals, treating patients promptly, and providing compassionate, high-quality care; and
WHEREAS: Available research has consistently shown that racism compromises health. In the United States specifically, racism has continued to harm people of color and marginalized communities. Racism is widely present and shows up in every dimension of health care. Health care is not immune from the injustices that pervade society more broadly; and
WHEREAS: CDC data reports that Black women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy- related complications than white women. This alarming risk spans across all income and education levels. Decreasing maternal racial disparities requires collaboration among local, state, and federal governments, healthcare systems, providers, and social service organizations, and equitable investments through services, programs, and conditions that impact Black, Indigenous, and birthing persons of color; and
WHEREAS: No woman or baby should experience a preventable preterm birth, and no woman or baby should die from a preventable cause in childbirth. The shared understanding of how inequities in outcomes based upon race, class, and gender are created by policy and practice is crucial to ending these health care inequities.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: that, Councilmember Nelson Esparza, Council President Annalisa Perea, the Fresno City Council, and Mayor Jerry P. Dyer do hereby proclaim, 11th-17th of April 2024, as:
“Black Maternal Health Week”
in the City of Fresno.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our hands
and affixed the Seal of The City of Fresno, California, on this 4th day of April 2024.