TWU Contributes to Policy Recommendations for COVID19 Perinatal Emergency Care

This fall, Tewa Women United’s Indigenous Women’s Health program manager Jessica Lujan was proud to be part of a group of Indigenous, Black, and people of color perinatal healthcare providers and advocates that serve communities across New Mexico. Together the group crafted a set of recommendations that name considerations for upholding access to perinatal and reproductive healthcare through the COVID19 pandemic.

• Read the full report here: https://bit.ly/2Jc9N6B

Historically and today, patient care improvements and changes to health practices and systems have come at the expense of the bodies and lives of Indigenous, Black, and people of color communities; this is unacceptable. These recommendations were developed by the expertise and experiences of leaders who intimately understand our underlying disparities in health outcomes, and carry critical knowledge around these issues.

The recommendations integrate aspects like the midwifery model of care, doula support, and infant feeding as key in promoting positive outcomes and health equity, particularly in the Indigenous, Black, and people of color communities most severely impacted by the current emergency; they also reach beyond perinatal care into related areas of reproductive health, namely contraception and abortion.

Partners on this project included: Bold Futures NM, Breath of My Heart Birthplace, Ember Birth Services, Indigenous Women Rising, Luna Tierra Casa de Partos, NaSer Acompañamiento Perinatal, Navajo Nation Breastfeeding Coalition, New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, New Mexico Doula Association, Strong Families NM, Tewa Women United, and Wadada Midwifery Care.