For Long Island mothers, community efforts address ‘an injustice made purposefully invisible’

In the third episode of “Color Code,” we take a look at efforts on Long Island to address racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality. In the U.S., Black women are three times more likely than white women to die as a result of childbirth. Black babies also have an infant mortality rate that is twice as high as it is for white babies.

We hear again from Martine Hackett, a suburban public health expert at Hofstra University on Long Island. She tells us about why she founded Birth Justice Warriors, which works to reduce maternal and infant mortality on Long Island. She views infant mortality as a sort of canary in the coal mine that indicates the overall health of a community. On Long Island, the infant mortality rate for white babies is about 2 deaths per 1,000 live births. However, for Black babies, the rate is much higher, at about 8 to 9 deaths per 1,000 live births.

We also speak with Jose Seng, a community health worker with Harmony Healthcare, a network of local health centers across Long Island. The organization recently received a nearly $4 million grant to provide care and services to pregnant people in parts of Nassau County that have higher rates of maternal mortality. We join him as he provides help and resources to a client, Marcia, who recently gave birth and is navigating the challenges of new motherhood.

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A transcript of this episode is available here. 

To read more on some of the topics discussed in this episode:

• Maternal Deaths Rose Dramatically During Pandemic, CDC Study Shows, U.S. News
• Newsday op-ed by Martine Hackett on maternal and infant mortality: Vestiges of racism still linger
• Martine Hackett’s Birth Justice Warriors
• Nassau nonprofit to use $3.9M grant to target maternal mortality, Newsday
• Report cites stubborn gaps between races in health care outcomes, Newsday
• Task force’s mission: Reduce black infant and maternal mortality rates, Newsday
• Maternity care ‘deserts’ on the rise across the U.S., report finds, STAT
• The Perinatal and Infant Community Health Collaboratives (PICHC) Initiative
• The New York state Maternal and Infant Community Health Collaborative (MICHC) Initiative

This podcast was made possible with support from the Commonwealth Fund.