WORKGROUP 1 LEADS: dESIREE TUCKER AND ZENOBIA BRYANT, pHd

Black families in Frederick County continue to experience disproportionate barriers and negative outcomes throughout the birthing journey, barriers rooted in systemic racism, bias, and unequal access to culturally responsive care. Expanding anti-racism and anti-discrimination education among prenatal care practitioners, administrative staff, support personnel, and social service providers is essential to changing this reality.

By raising awareness and transforming daily practices across every level of care, from front desk interactions to clinical decision-making, we create a system that recognizes bias, centers dignity, and builds trust with Black birthing people. This collective learning has the power to improve communication, increase access to respectful and responsive care, and reduce preventable disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes. When every professional involved in the birthing experience understands their role in advancing equity, we move closer to a Frederick County where all families can thrive. 

Obstetric racism happens when Black birthing people experience unfair treatment, disrespect, or neglect during pregnancy, birth, or postpartum care. These experiences are part of larger systems of racism that make it harder for Black families to feel safe, supported, and heard in healthcare settings.
Measuring or tracking obstetric racism, what we call quantifying it, is important because it helps make invisible experiences visible. It allows our community to show, in numbers and stories, what’s really happening and where changes are needed.

But it’s not easy to measure. Most hospital systems and health surveys don’t ask about racism, bias, or respect. They collect data on health outcomes like blood pressure or birth weight, but not on how people were treated or whether they felt listened to. That means we miss a big part of the story.
The good news is that we can change that. By asking the right questions and centering the voices of Black birthing people, we can build new tools that help us understand the real picture. This information can guide better training for healthcare workers, improve how hospitals provide care, and hold systems accountable for treating every family with dignity. When we measure what matters, we can finally begin to heal what’s been harmed and move toward a future where every birth is safe, respectful, and equitable. 

 Once the new tool to measure obstetric racism and the expanded anti-racism training are in place, we will track how these changes make a difference for Black birthing families. Our goal is to see more respectful, culturally responsive care and fewer experiences of bias or harm.

Evaluation will include hearing directly from Black birthing people about how they feel during their care, reviewing hospital and provider practices, and looking at birth outcomes over time. By combining data with lived experience, we can see where progress is happening and where more work is needed.
This process keeps the community at the center, ensuring that every step toward equity is shaped by the people most impacted and guided by their vision for safe, affirming, and joyful birth experiences.