New York City Birthing Project Seeking Women Volunteers To Assist Pregnant Women and Their Infants

NEW YORK - Oct. 2, 2014 - PRLog -- In an effort to combat the racial gap in infant mortality among African American women in New York City, the Birthing Project, the only national African American maternal and child health program in the US, is recruiting women volunteers to be SisterFriends, who provide practical support to teen and adult women during their pregnancy and for one year after the birth of the baby.

According to a 2013 report by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in 2012, African American women had the highest infant mortality rates in New York City.  African American women had a rate of 8.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rates per 1,000 live births for other New York City women were Puerto Rican (6.6); other Hispanics (4.8); Asian & Pacific Islanders (3.3) and white women in (2.7).

“Some of the major problems facing African American pregnant women in New York City are a lack of housing, lack of employment while pregnant, domestic violence and partner not in picture,” explained Denise West, Birthing Project’s Project Director for New York at Brooklyn Perinatal Network.   Over the last 18 years, West has worked with almost 370 pregnant women in the SisterFriend program. There have been about 350 babies born in the program.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene study pointed out that almost 11.8 percent of African American mothers received late or no prenatal care and that 12 percent had disproportionately more low birth weights.

For one young Brooklyn mother, Crystal Rose, having a Birthing Project SisterFriend during her pregnancy was a life-changing experience. “The Birthing Project saved my life. I was diagnosed with a high risk pregnancy but had I been alone, my son nor I may not have survived,” she said. “The Birthing Project gave me the confidence to breast feed. They monitored my pregnancy from the first diagnosis and oversaw my procedures for my son’s delivery without missing a beat. My son was born healthy and happy, I had a successful cesarean and fibroid removal, and he breast feed up until 14 months in perfect health. "

The SisterFriends  help pregnant women in need navigate through difficult times in their pregnancy and early motherhood. “The need for SisterFriends is to ensure that we have support for pregnant women. The SisterFriends provide guidance, emotional and practical support,” said West, who is also Deputy Executive Director, Brooklyn Perinatal Network, Inc. (BPN). “Pregnant women enjoy just having someone to talk to that will be positive, encouraging and reinforce that a positive future can be theirs.”

Please contact, the Birthing Project’s New York office at dwest@bpnetwork.org for more information on becoming a SisterFriend.

From October 18 – 19, the Birthing Project 18^th Annual National Training Conference will be held in New Orleans at the Hyatt Place Hotel. Registration is free and features SisterFriends workshops and training sessions. It will be conducted by Kathryn Hall-Trujillo, MPH, founder of the Birthing Project. Registration information is available at www.birthingproject.org

The Birthing Project was founded in 1988 by Hall-Trujillo, who was a program advisor at the California State Department of Health Services. The Birthing Project is a method of demonstrating a cost effective way of decreasing infant mortality and morbidity in the African-American community. The Birthing Project, the “Underground Railroad for a New Life,” from Mississippi to Malawi .  The Birthing Project targets African American and pregnant women of all ethnicities who need medical care and social support to optimize their birth outcomes. Since1988, over 10,000 babies have been born into over 90 Birthing Projects nationally.