Aryana Noroozi
Black mothers and their children gathered to launch Black Maternal Health Week with an afternoon focused on joy, rest, connection, and support, rather than statistics.
Hosted by the Riverside Community Health Foundation, the event offered a joyful Paint & Mocktail Sip session to connect with fellow participants and engage in meaningful conversations about maternal health. Organizers designed the gathering as a safe space where Black women at all stages of motherhood could feel seen, heard, and resourced.
“Black maternal health week means the world to me,” saidBianca Reid, Senior Health Educator at Riverside Community Health Foundation.“I’m so thankful for the initiative. . . that it’s happening. It’s a movement. It’s like [building] awareness and how to advocate for ourselves, and not just to focus on the disparities that we have, but to also highlight and share the progression, the impact we’re making in the community.
She emphasized that the week is about building community across the Black diaspora and for other BIPOC mothers who often feel isolated in their experiences with the health care system.
“The reason why it’s also important is because we are out here, and when I say we, that’s including everybody from the Black African American diaspora and beyond, especially those who are BIPOC,” she said. “A lot of times we feel like we’re alone, or feel like we’re going through things just on our own, which we are not. Programs such as this you want to highlight and hold space of rest, self care, doing something they probably don’t normally do.”
Behind the joy is a serious reality: Black women are four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, not just during pregnancy or childbirth but well into the postpartum period. The organizer praised California for investing in maternal health initiatives, including programs like the Abundant Birth Project and local efforts in Riverside County, but stressed that official statistics often undercount the real toll.
In Riverside County, community-led programs have paired supportive gatherings like this event with concrete resources, including guaranteed income and workshops for mothers.
As a mother, Stace Stagg joined the program when she was five months pregnant after her sister, a Sankofa‑trained doula, told her about it. Through the program she connected with lactation consultants like Devana and worked closely with her coach, Jay Alanisha, while also receiving guidance from Mama Lee. Because her son is a rainbow baby, she said the emotional and physical support was critical to getting through her pregnancy–a rainbow baby is a healthy child born to parents who previously suffered the loss of a child due to miscarriage, stillbirth, etc. When her milk supply dropped, Devana helped her troubleshoot the issue, and with that support she is still breastfeeding her son at 18 months, an experience she describes as overwhelmingly positive.
“I’ve been able to meet a lot of different mothers who have similar journeys, and even the ones that are different. I’ve been able to support other mothers as well through becoming a doula and meeting these beautiful doulas,” Stagg said.“It’s just been a great program to be a part of, and it’s been very I know that I have a community with it.”