Why do we need black maternal health week?
Black Maternal Health Week is held every year to increase awareness about issues facing Black women in pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. It is an opportunity to share information about specific health concerns that impact black maternal health and promote information about the interventions and resources available to those women. This year’s theme, “Rooted in Justice and Joy” means intentionally working on equitable outcomes for Black women by improving laws, programs, and the places where people live, while celebrating Black women’s worth, life, and future. This week, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) will celebrate the great work done by our staff and our community partners as we work together to ensure healthy birth outcomes for Black women across the Commonwealth.
While there are risks for women of all races and ethnicities to experience poor health outcomes associated with pregnancy, data show that women of color, and their babies, experience poor outcomes at a higher rate than women of other races.
At VDH, we collect and study different kinds of health information related to pregnancy and birth. This helps us understand which groups or regions may be experiencing poor health outcomes at a higher rate than others. We use this data to develop programs that can:
- Make things better for families
- Inform our partners and communities
- Explain what programs and actions are working well
- Help support changes to laws and rules
We hope this data is useful and will help ensure that all women in Virginia can have the healthiest pregnancy outcomes possible, for themselves and their babies.
What insights do the data show?
Related to maternal health, VDH collects and keeps track of important health data to better understand how mothers are doing during pregnancy and after giving birth. Click on the links below to explore the data we collect:
- 孕婦死亡率 (deaths while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of a pregnancy)
- 懷孕相關死亡 (a death during or within one year of pregnancy)
- 嚴重孕婦發病率 (includes a list of 21 unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery)
- 懷孕風險評估監測系統 (data based on the experiences of women during and just after pregnancy)
More information, including explanations of the data collected can be found on the VDH Maternal and Child Health data dashboard。 Black women consistently show higher rates of poor health outcomes during pregnancy and childbirth compared to other races。
- Black women are more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes
- Black women face more than double the rate of serious health complications
Poor health outcomes also extend to the infants born to black mothers. We observe that Black infants experience higher rates of preterm birth, low birth weight and infant death compared to other races and ethnic groups.
Contributing Factors
Poor maternal health outcomes and poor pregnancy outcomes can be explained by several reasons. They include differences in access to healthcare and also how Black women experience healthcare.
We know that in Virginia, 31% of the counties are considered to be “maternity care deserts.” This means that these areas do not have enough healthcare resources to meet the needs of their residents. Additionally, many Black women may also experience issues such as:
- Lack of culturally competent care, or implicit bias or racism in their care
- Lack of dependable transportation
- Lack of access to stable housing or good nutrition
- Insurance instability
- 缺乏護理協調
However, these barriers alone do not fully explain the differences in maternal health outcomes. Data show that even when comparing women with similar income levels or health behaviors such as smoking, racial disparities persist. You can read more about this data on VDH’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data webpage。
解決方案
Up to 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Through partnerships with community organizations and programs at our local health districts, VDH has established programs to support pregnant women and targeted outreach initiatives for Black women. VDH’s Maternal Health Resource Hub showcases many of the resources we have for families and pregnant or postpartum women, including both information and direct support such as:
- Home Visiting programs
- 營養師和社區保健員
- Maternal Mental Health resources
- 母乳餵哺支持
- Substance Use support
VDH’s Maternal Health Resource Hub also contains links to our 資料 and resources for both 醫療保健供應商 和 community organizations who want to learn more and support Black women and their families. We encourage policymakers, program managers, community leaders and members to also use this information to develop solutions to improve maternal health outcomes.
VDH and its local health districts have also established effective programs in their communities to address the factors that cause racial disparities and impact on Black maternal health outcomes. These include:
- Providing grants to organizations to expand perinatal health hubs across the state, which provide community-based wraparound support and services to pregnant and postpartum women, and their infants.
- Maternal and Child Health services in VDH’s local health districts, through coordination and community engagement.
- Through this program our local health districts support families by hosting community baby showers, building partnerships with birthing hospitals, expanding the doula workforce, and offering home visiting, car seat safety, and safe sleep education.
- From July 1-December 31, 2025, these programs:
- provided 14,238 individuals with services such as care navigation, health education, screening and community outreach.
- made 2,845 referrals to social and clinical services, including Women, Infant, and Children (WIC), mental and behavioral health services, insurance coverage, and transportation.
- provided 4,041 perinatal individuals with education during a postpartum visit,
- And provided 1,015 perinatal providers with education on Local Health District-specific perinatal resources.
- 該 Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program provides nutrition education, lactation support, supplemental food, and critical referrals to more than 105,000 moms, babies, and children up to the age of 5 in Virginia.
- VDH’s Moms Under Pressure program provides blood pressure monitoring and peer support for pregnant and postpartum moms at 25 sites throughout Virginia.
如需更多資訊
Browse VDH’s 孕婦健康網站 for links to our data and additional Maternal Health resources.
Follow along on our social media platforms this month to learn more about the programs and resources VDH offers.



