PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Health Systems, in partnership with Springfield Family Doulas, is providing a new support group for birthing parents in the perinatal period, the months before and after the birth of their child, that is specifically focused on the needs and experiences of families of color.  

 

Embrace Diversity Birth Circle: Supporting Women of Color will be held on the second Thursday of each month at Berkshire Medical Center. This free support group will be held in the Bishop Clapp Building Conference Room from 5 to 6 pm and will be co-facilitated by Laconia Fennell and Tanita Council, the co-founders of Springfield Family Doulas.

 

Funded through a grant from the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office's Maternal Health Equity Program, the “Embrace Diversity Birth Circle” support group is facilitated by black doulas and offered to all birthing parents of color. The group is designed to provide a culturally relevant space where birthing parents of color will feel heard, understood, validated and empowered.

 

Black women are up to four times more likely than white women to die from a pregnancy-related cause in the US due to a range of factors, including structural racism. In Massachusetts, black women are nearly two times more likely to die during pregnancy or within one year postpartum compared to white women. Black women also have a 70 percent greater risk of health-impacting and life-threatening events that could occur during hospitalization for childbirth than their white counterparts.

 

The new support group is part of the Berkshire Cradle Program, a collaboration between BHS, Berkshire Nursing Families and Springfield Family Doulas designed to expand culturally competent maternal health support pregnant and post-partum birthing people from underserved populations. By creating new clinical and community resources for birthing people, Berkshire Cradle aims to reduce health disparities and decrease unnecessary health care spending among birthing parents in the Berkshires. 

 

In addition to the Embrace Diversity Birth Circle, Berkshire Cradle Program connects to birthing people through its partners at Berkshire Health Systems and Berkshire Nursing Families to offer comprehensive lactation resources, peer mental health support, screening for intimate partner violence amongst birthing people with substance use disorder, and annual provider education of health disparities relating to birthing people.