Trump’s health cuts threaten Fresno efforts to address Black maternal mortality rates | Opinion

Shantay R. Davies-Balch lost her mother to preventable breast cancer. Then, despite taking every precaution, the Fresno resident experienced preterm births.

That is why she became a birth assistant and later formalized her training as a doula, a non-medical professional who provides guidance and support to pregnant women.

“Recognizing the urgent need for change, I launched Fresno’s first Black Maternal Health Week, aligning with the national effort led by the Black Mamas Alliance,” Davies-Balch told me.

This is a big week for Davies-Balch as she rolls out programs for Black Maternal Health Week, which kicked off at last Thursday’s Art Hop and continues through April 12.

This valuable outreach to the Black community in Fresno County is very much needed. Black individuals account for 5.3% of the county’s total births, but account for 12.3% of overall infant deaths. The mortality rate for Black mothers in the county is 20 per 100,000 births. Davies-Balch adds that “about 76% happen after delivery.”

That, however, does not seem valuable enough for the Trump administration. On March 25, Davies-Balch was notified by the Fresno Community Health Innovation Partnership that its funding had been retroactively discontinued.

The cut was part of the administration’s slashing of more than $12 billion in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dollars.

This budget cut — like a rash of others that have come from the Trump administration since he took office a second time — makes little to no sense. Davies-Balch’s has hired eight workers to help her in helping Black mothers during their pregnancy in a part of California where maternal and infant mortality rates for Black individuals remains a problem.

Shouldn’t we, as a country, support efforts to make America healthier? If efforts by Davies-Balch have helped address a health issue that plagues the country, why should funding be pulled from her program? Nationally, Black women experience a maternal mortality rate of 49.5% per 100,000 live births, significantly much higher than those for white women (19%) and Latinas (16.9%).

Davies-Balch, president and CEO of the Black Wellness and Prosperity Center, began the organization in 2017 to address critical health disparities affecting Black women and families. That includes infant mortality, preterm birth and maternal mortality prevention.

In 2021, she launched the BLACK Doula Network to train Black doulas and advocate for systemic change.

Federal cuts will cause harm, say experts

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called the reorganization of the Centers for Disease Control — laying off 2,400 workers, or about 18% of its workforce — an effort to clean up waste and bureaucracy. He promised that federal health agencies would do a better job of improving the health of Americans.

“We’re going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies while preserving their core functions by merging them into a new organization called the Administration for a Healthy America,” Kennedy said in a video message.

Health experts, however, believe the cuts will further impede progress in improving the health of minorities and rural residents who rely on federally funded programs. KFF Health News said state and local governments could fill some of the funding gap, but they have their own budget problems.

“These cuts to agency experts and programs leave our country less safe, less prepared and without the necessary talent and resources to respond to health threats,” Dr. Mandy Cohen told CNN on April 2. Cohen was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the Biden administration.

The cuts in federal funding, said Davies-Balch, couldn’t have come at a worse time. “The abrupt loss of this federal funding has created an urgent need for (us and other local Community-Based Organizations) to find alternative resources to sustain the vital social services, support systems and care coordination our community health workers provide,” she said.

Davies-Balch will continue to look for other funding to continue her work. “Our services will continue without interruption,” she said. “We are actively seeking creative solutions to maintain the programs and support systems our community depends on.”

Meanwhile, Black Maternal Health Week continues as scheduled.

“These gatherings will offer valuable resources, education and a profound sense of Belonging, Love, Affinity, Community and Kinship (BLACK),” said Davies-Balch.

You can help her cause by donating here.