WHAMglobal Board and Learning Collaborative Convene

WHAMglobal Board members gather virtually for December’s meeting.

On Thursday, December 10^th, the Women's Health Activist Movement Global (WHAMglobal) Safer Childbirth Cities team convened its first Learning Collaborative virtual meeting. The Learning Collaborative welcomed Brown Mamas, The Birthing Hut, Elephant Song Doula Services, Kangaroo Birthing, and MAYA Organization to the space with an orientation of the Safer Childbirth Cities project, our health equity commitments, and the benefits of participating as a Community Fund member. Each team met with a Jewish Healthcare Foundation staff member who will serve as their coach to talk through how their respective maternal health projects have evolved over the course of the planning phase. The Learning Collaborative used the time to set housekeeping/ground rules to create a safe space for all members. The session included mindfulness activities in order to center and affirm the work that these organizations facilitate on a daily basis across the region.

WHAMglobal Board met virtually on December 3, 2020 to review the year's activities and discuss plans for 2021. The meeting featured a WHAMglobal Board Member Spotlight on Laurie Zephyrin, MD, MPH, MBA, Vice President, Delivery System Reform The Commonwealth Fund, with guest Roosa Tikkanen, MPH, M.Res., Senior Research Associate, The Commonwealth Fund, who presented and discussed the recent Issue Brief: Maternal Mortality and Maternity Care in the United States Compared to 10 Other Developed Countries. Board member Jennifer Moore, PhD, RN, Executive Director, Institute for Medicaid Innovation (IMI) presented on IMI's report, Community-Based Maternal Support Services: The Role of Doulas and Community Health Workers in Medicaid.

JHF President and CEO Karen Wolk Feinstein, PhD presented a WHAMglobal year in review, along with WHAMglobal Board Chair Debra Caplan, MPA and JHF staff Julia Och, Robert Ferguson, MPH, and Kate Dickerson, MSc. Brief highlights included the IWF COVID-19 Global Conversation, Safer Childbirth Cities Launch, What's at Stake for Women+ in this Election Town Hall event, Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative and Moving on Maternal Depression Initiative, the 2020 Salk Health Activist Fellowship, and the Pennsylvania WIC Stakeholders Collaborative.

JHF staff then presented what's next in 2021, focusing on JHF's Full Court Press health policy initiative arm to promote policy for comprehensive pregnancy and postpartum care, through midwifery integration, the PA WIC program, and perinatal CHWs and doulas.